Can You Say Weird?
by NatashaNikolova
Summary: Being summoned to Court is one thing. Reading an entire series about yourself is just plain weird. Who the hell wrote this anyway? How do they know me and everything I've ever done, and why take the time to write 6 books about my life and send them to me.
1. The Summoning

**A/N**

**I Hope you enjoy.**

**R&R. Please and thank you! Oh! The background contains spoilers for **_**Spirit Bound **_**and **_**Last Sacrifice**_**, although I am not sure how accurate those spoilers are. **

_**Spoiler alert: If you have not read **_**Spirit Bound **_**please do not read this fanfic because it contains spoilers. There may be some spoilers from **_**Last Sacrifice **_**too. I am not sure how accurate my spoilers for**_** Last Sacrifice **_**are **_{Spoilers for _Spirit Bound _and _Last Sacrifice_ are about to be stated. If you do not want to know what they are please disregard the rest of this spoiler alert.!}_**, but I do for a fact know that Rose is proven innocent and does not die. I watched a Richelle Mead interview on the internet and she said Rose does not die. She also said Sydney Sage is going to be one of the characters followed in the spin off series and that we would get to see what people think of Rose when they see her walking down a street. That was not quoted word for word; I just summarized what I heard. If there was anyone who was afraid of Rose dying or actually being the last sacrifice, you may now rest easy. **_

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Vampire Academy **_**or any of its characters for that matter. I do however, wish I owned Dimitri, but I guess that is just wishful thinking. **

Background:

This fanfic takes place after _Last Sacrifice_. Lissa is now Queen and of course she and Christian are back together—which of course happened in Spirit bound. Jill is Lissa's half-sister. Dimitri and Rose are together again . Adrian and Sydney are an item. Rose and Dimitri live in a house in the woods not too far from court. Eddie is a court guardian, and Mia still lives at court.

The Summoning 

I was at home snuggled up in Dimitri's strong arms watching television when the phone rang. I unwillingly got up to retrieve my cell phone and saw Lissa's name on the caller ID.

"Hey Liss," I groaned into the receiver. Saying I was irritated would be an understatement. Mad as hell would better describe my feelings.

"Rose this is important," she replied. "I'm sure anything you and Dimitri were doing can wait."

"Fine," I said into the receiver not too happily. I'm sure whatever Liss has to tell me is nothing compared to me being in Dimitri's arms, but I keep that thought to myself. "What is it?" I ask her in a more friendly tone keeping my true feelings masked. It was times like these where I was grateful for my guardian training, but when I turned to look at Dimitri I could tell my façade was not fooling him. He knew I was still pissed, so I played innocent and mouthed _what _to him. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head typical Dimitri I thought, and with that he walked out of the room, and I tuned back into what Lissa was saying.

"…you and Dimitri need to come to Court now," I heard her say.

"Why," I asked her.

"I just told you why. Were you even listening to me," she said in an exasperated voice.

"Yes, I heard you say…never mind. Dimitri and I will be at Court in about 45 minutes, and with that I hung up.

Just as I was about to call out to Dimitri he walked back into the room with a letter in his hands. He stared at it curiously and flipped it over in his hands before handing it over to me.

"It has no return address," he said "but it is addressed to us. You should open it." he finished.

With that I tore the letter open in true reckless Rose Hathaway style and unfolded the letter. I looked it over and it had no signature, which I thought was weird, but I read it out loud anyway.

_Dear Guardian Hathaway and Guardian Belikov,_

_ It is with the utmost importance that you get to Court as soon as possible. There will be a room set up there and waiting for you, and in it you will find some of your friends and six things that will definitely spark your interest. Please take this letter seriously. I am sure this is something you would hate to miss out on, especially you Guardian Hathaway. Be there as soon as possible; don't waste any time. _

After I finally find my voice I choke out, "That was weird."

"It most certainly was," Dimitri replies. "So do you want to go?" he asks.

"You're damn straight we're going!" I exclaim. "One thing that letter had right was that whatever this is would spark my interest, and it most certainly has."

"You don't even know what it is."

"What's your point?"

"Rose you never change. Always jumping into things without thinking," was his only reply, but he mumbled it so low I don't think he meant for me to hear it, and then he left the room again to go get ready. I followed him and got ready too. This was going to be an interesting day, and my point was proven when we got to Court and I saw the 'friends' the letter spoke of. Lissa and Christian were there of course. Tasha, Mia, Eddie, my mom, Abe, Adrian, Sydney, Mikhail, and Dimitri's family, even Yeva, were all in attendance too. Before I could greet all of my friends and family Christian's voice broke the silence with a typical snarky comment.

"What took you two so long to get here?" he asked, and by the tone in his voice I could tell he was not finished talking, "Did you pull the car over and get busy since Lissa interrupted you two earlier?" he finished with a laugh. Adrian and Eddie joined in the laughter. Tasha looked stunned and everyone else just looked uncomfortable, but me being Rose Hathaway I couldn't let Christian's remark go unnoticed, so in my best bitchy voice I said, "Yeah we did actually. Why did you want to know? Mad because Lissa hasn't been giving you any lately?" That shut him up, but Adrian and Eddie just laughed harder.

In between laughs Adrian managed to get out, "Never…piss…a Hathaway…off"

After Adrian and Eddie stopped laughing like hysterical hyenas my mom said, "We should go into the room now." With that everyone filed into the room. When I walked in I was stunned to see six books in the front of the room, and boy was I pissed. I did not leave the comfort of my house to come read some dumb books. Rose Hathaway doesn't like to read, and I know that's a known fact, so who in there right mind would send me a bunch of books. Boy was I furious. I think everyone in the room saw the murderous glare on my face because not even Christian had a snarky comment to say, and everyone in the room stepped away from me. I stormed up to the table with the books on it and stopped in my tracks. As I looked at the books my anger dissipated and I knew the letter had been right. The six things in this room would spark my interest.

"Rose what's wrong?" Dimitri asked me as he moved toward me. He was the first to notice my change in mood, as always, but I didn't have to answer him because he saw the cover of the books too. They had me on them. Me when I was 17 and me when I was 18. I think he was just as shocked to see the books as I was. He was even on two of the covers with me. He shot me a look and I just shrugged my shoulders. The titles of the books were _Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow-Kissed, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, _and _Last Sacrifice_. I continued to stare at the books until a loud voice beside me broke the silence and I could feel the confusion radiating to me through the bond.

"Oh my Gosh!" I heard Lissa yell, and she picked up the first book, _Vampire Academy_, and help it up in the air for everyone to see, and I heard a collective intake of breath throughout the room.

Sydney was the first to recover and she said, "So, what are we going to do? We can't just stand here all day. We might as well start reading." And with that everyone took a seat, well except for me. I was still staring at the other five books wondering where they came from and who sent them to us. I was rooted to the spot and Dimitri had to basically carry me to my seat and place me in my chair. Once I was seated I regained my reasoning—as much reasoning as Rose Hathaway ever had—and asked, "Who's going to read first?" Lissa volunteered and she began to read.

"Chapter one," she began


	2. Chapter 1

**I FELT HER FEAR BEFORE I heard her screams.**

"Wow that's some serious shit right there," Christian said.

Everyone in the room glared at him. We had only read one sentence and he was already commenting. I wanted to beat him senseless, and when he looked over at me I think he got the message because he immediately shut up and he went death pale. Now that was more like it I thought.

"Continue," I said to Lissa.

**Her nightmare pulsed into me, shaking me out of my own dream, which had had something to do with a beach and some hot guy rubbing suntan oil on me. **

My mother looked at me and shook her head, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Dimitri do the same.

**Images—hers, not mine— tumbled through my mind: fire and blood, the smell of smoke, the twisted metal of a car. The pictures wrapped around me, suffocating me, until some rational part of my brain reminded me that this wasn't **_**my **_**dream.**

"Wait. Rose Hathaway has a rational part. Who would have ever guessed?" Eddie joked. Viktoria, Adrian, and Sydney chuckled, as did Dimitri and my parents. Christian just rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face.

**I woke up, strands of long, dark hair sticking to my forehead.**

**Lissa lay in her bed, thrashing and screaming. I bolted out of mine, quickly crossing the few feet that separated us.**

**"Liss," I said, shaking her. "Liss, wake up."**

**Her screams dropped off, replaced by soft whimpers. "Andre," she moaned." Oh God."**

With the mention of Andre Mia froze a little bit. I guess she was still having trouble getting over what he had done to her. I wasn't the only one who noticed Mia go stiff.

A second after I noticed, Eddie said, "Mia are you alright?"

"Yeah," she lied.

"Well if you want to talk about it you know we are here for you."

Mia just nodded her head and Lissa gave her a small smile, so did I, and everyone else in the room, but as I smiled at her I couldn't help but notice what a cute couple Eddie and Mia would make. I made a note to check into that later as Lissa started reading again.

**I helped her sit up. "Liss, you aren't there anymore. Wake up."**

**After a few moments, her eyes fluttered open, and in the dim lighting, I could see a flicker of consciousness start to take over. Her frantic breathing slowed, and she leaned into me, resting her head against my shoulder. I put an arm around her and ran a hand over her hair.**

"I didn't think badass Rose Hathaway had a soft side," Adrian joked.

I shot him the same glare I had shot Christian earlier and he shut up, much to my enjoyment.

**"It's okay," I told her gently. "Everything's okay."**

**"I had that dream."**

**"Yeah. I know."**

**We sat like that for several minutes, not saying anything else. When I felt her emotions calm down, I leaned over to the nightstand between our beds and turned on the lamp. It glowed dimly, but neither of us really needed much to see by. Attracted by the light, our housemate's cat, Oscar, leapt up onto the sill of the open window. He gave me a wide berth—animals don't like dhampirs, for whatever reason—but jumped onto the bed and rubbed his head against Lissa, purring softly. Animals didn't have a problem with Moroi, and they all loved Lissa in particular.**

"Who or what wouldn't love Lissa?" I heard Tasha say.

**Smiling, she scratched his chin, and I felt her calm further.**

**"When did we last do a feeding?"**

"What do you mean by a feeding," I heard Janine growl. By the looks of it, it seems like Abe was about to say the same thing, but Janine beat him to it, so he just sat there with a disappointed look on his face.

"What do you think we were doing for food?" I asked them, and I saw Viktoria's eyes widen at the mention of me as food. I think she did actually learn something that night I pulled her out of that blood whore din. "We couldn't just walk up to a feeder facility seeing as how we were on the run. What did you expect us to do? Kidnap a human and use him or her as a food source. If we needed to make a quick get away he or she would have just slowed us down!" I nearly shouted.

"Calm down Rose," Dimitri said as he touched my shoulder, and to everyone's surprise I shut up—for now that is.

**I asked, studying her face. Her fair skin was paler than usual. Dark circles hung under her eyes, and there was an air of frailty about her. School had been hectic this week, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd given her blood.**

I saw Abe and Janine stiffen at the confirmation that I was the one giving Lissa blood. I don't see how that was a surprise seeing as all the guardians who came to retrieve Lissa and me already knew. Hell Even Jesse Zeklos knew. I just rolled my eyes and continued to listen to the story.

**"It's been like…more than two days, hasn't it? Three? Why didn't you say anything?"**

**She shrugged and wouldn't meet my eyes. "You were busy. I didn't want to—"**

**"Screw that," I said, shifting into a better position. No wonder she seemed so weak. Oscar, not wanting me any closer, leapt down and returned to the window, where he could watch at a safe distance. "Come on. Let's do this."**

"That cat had good sense. Even he was afraid of Rose Hathaway," I heard Adrian whisper to Sydney and Mikhail. To my astonishment they both chuckled.

**"Rose—"**

**"Come **_**on. **_**It'll make you feel better."**

**I tilted my head and tossed my hair back, baring my neck. I saw her hesitate, but the sight of my neck and what it offered proved too powerful. A hungry expression crossed her face, and her lips parted slightly, exposing the fangs she normally kept hidden while living among humans.**

I saw Dimitri grimace. I guess he was remembering all the lives he took as a Strigoi. It never crossed my mind that he might be thinking about when he was taking my blood in Russia, and treating me like his own personal blood whore.

**Those fangs contrasted oddly with the rest of her features. With her pretty face and pale blond hair, she looked more like an angel than a vampire.**

"Little Dramphir, if she looks like an angle rather than a vampire what do I look like," Adrian commented in a coquettish tone.

Dimitri shot Adrian a death glare and Sydney punched him in the arm for flirting with another girl. In my opinion he deserved more than that. Too bad Dimitri didn't have my lack of self-control or he would have been beating Adrian to death right now. Since Dimitri decided to do nothing else, much to my dismay, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

"A ghost," I answered his question, and all the color drained from his face. I could see Dimitri visibly fighting a smile and I felt satisfied, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Olena and my parents shaking their heads. Yeva just looked indifferent.

**As her teeth neared my bare skin, I felt my heart race with a mix of fear and anticipation. I always hated feeling the latter, but it was nothing I could help, a weakness I couldn't shake.**

My mother shot me a glance that I pointedly ignored.

**Her fangs bit into me, hard, and I cried out at the brief flare of pain. Then it faded, replaced by a wonderful, golden joy that spread through my body. It was better than any of the times I'd been drunk or high. **

"Drunk or high!" Abe yelled at the top of his lungs. What were you doing at that school of yours, and how did you even get those types of substances.

My next comment I knew would get Abe to shut up and I knew it would piss him off. That's really the reason I said what I said next. "I have a knack for acquiring illegal things just like my father." He gave me a glare that put mine to shame and I found my self cowering into Dimitri's laughing arms. At that point I felt satisfied because my comment evoked my desired effect and I was now in Dimitri's arms. As I looked around the room I saw that everyone was laughing.

"Rose…Hathaway…finally…meets…her…match," I heard Lissa say between giggles, and I blushed bright red, and that sent everyone into an even greater fit of laughter, that is until I threatened to beat everyone in the room up. They all shut up at that, but Dimitri still had a smirk on his face, so I punched him in his arm. He winced and shot me a glare, but said nothing.

"It looks like Dimka has met his match too," Sonya said laughing. Karolina, Viktoria, and Olena began laughing too, and Dimitri shot them the same glare he shot me and everyone in the room started laughing again. When we were finally done laughing at Dimitri's expense Lissa began to read again.

**Better than sex—or so I imagined, since I'd never done it.**

"You had never had sex before," Eddie, Adrian, and Christian chorused together.

"Is that not what I just said?"

"At least she made some good choices," Abe said out loud, and Janine nodded her head.

**It was a blanket of pure, refined pleasure, wrapping me up and promising everything would be right in the world. On and on it went. The chemicals in her saliva triggered an endorphin rush, and I lost track of the world, lost track of who I was.**

Eddie grimaced at that, and I would have bet my life he was remembering the time Isaiah had used him as a blood source in Spokane.

**Then, regretfully, it was over. It had taken less than a minute.**

**She pulled back, wiping her hand across her lips as she studied me. "You okay?"**

**"I…yeah." I lay back on the bed, dizzy from the blood loss. "I just need to sleep it off. I'm fine."**

**Her pale, jade-green eyes watched me with concern. She stood up. "I'm going to get you something to eat."**

"At least one of you had a brain, and was actually using it," my mom said. I just ignored her comment. I was getting really tired of everyone picking at me today.

**My protests came awkwardly to my lips, and she left before I could get out a sentence. The buzz from her bite had lessened as soon as she broke the connection, but some of it still lingered in my veins, and I felt a goofy smile cross my lips. Turning my head, I glanced up at Oscar, still sitting in the window.**

**"You don't know what you're missing," I told him.**

Viktoria shot me a look, and I just ignored her too because I did not want to be reminded of how I had actually liked vampire bites.

**His attention was on something outside. Hunkering down into a crouch, he puffed out his jet-black fur. His tail started twitching.**

**My smile faded, and I forced myself to sit up. The world spun, and I waited for it to right itself before trying to stand. When I managed it, the dizziness set in again and this time refused to leave. Still, I felt okay enough to stumble to the window and peer out with Oscar. He eyed me warily, scooted over a little, and then returned to whatever had held his attention.**

**A warm breeze—unseasonably warm for a Portland fall— played with my hair as I leaned out. The street was dark and relatively quiet. It was three in the morning; just about the only time a college campus settled down, at least somewhat. The house in which we'd rented a room for the past eight months sat on a residential street with old, mismatched houses. **

"How did you guys manage to rent a house seeing as you were both minors?" Mikhail asked.

The answer came from an unlikely source. "They obviously used compulsion," Yeva said. The fact that she could speak English was still weird to me because for most of my stay in Russia she pretended to not speak the language at all. Sneaky, deceitful, old hag I thought to myself.

**Across the road, a streetlight flickered, nearly ready to burn out. It still cast enough light for me to make out the shapes of cars and buildings. In our own yard, I could see the silhouettes of trees and bushes.**

**And a man watching me.**

"Wow you guys were being stalked. That is pretty psycho, so who's the lucky man who got to spend his time watching Rose Hathaway in her bedroom?" Adrian asked as Dimitri rolled his eyes for like the 100th time today.

"Wait and see, and yes he is lucky, but not in the way you said," I reply. Let him make of that what he wants to. Then with a wave of my hand I signal for Lissa to begin reading again. She does after she lets out a few giggles and some people make some comments. She knows what I was talking about, and by the look on his face I can tell Dimitri gets it too because he is trying to hide a grin, but it does not go unnoticed.

"Dimka, why are you grinning?" Tasha asks.

"I understand what Rose was trying to tell Adrian, and it was actually pretty funny and clever," he replies with a grin.

"Well would you like to enlighten us?" she asks.

"Yeah, enlighten us Belikov," Adrian hisses.

"No. You all will know soon enough."

**I jerked back in surprise. A figure stood by a tree in the yard, about thirty feet away, where he could easily see through the window. He was close enough that I probably could have thrown something and hit him. He was certainly close enough that he could have seen what Lissa and I had just done.**

In a whisper so low only I could here what he was saying Dimitri said, "I did see what you had just done."

That sent a shiver down my spine.

**The shadows covered him so well that even with my heightened sight, I couldn't make out any of his features, save for his height. He was tall. Really tall. He stood there for just a moment, barely discernible, and then stepped back, disappearing into the shadows cast by the trees on the far side of the yard. I was pretty sure I saw someone else move nearby and join him before the blackness swallowed them both.**

"If the guy was stalking you he could have at least had the balls to come say hi after you found out he was watching you. What a punk," Adrian said.

Dimitri shot Adrian another glare, but Adrian didn't see it, but Christian did. He decided that if Dimitri attacked he didn't want to be anywhere near Adrian, so he moved to sit on Lissa's other side.

I didn't really want Dimitri to attack Adrian, so I placed a hand on his and leaned into him to try to calm him down. It finally worked after a few seconds and I could feel him relax. He then turned to me and mouthed thanks and shot me a grateful look, and I almost melted where I sat. The only thing I could do was smile back in return. God! The things this man did to me.

**Whoever these figures were, Oscar didn't like them. Not counting me, he usually got along with most people, growing upset only when someone posed an immediate danger. The guy outside hadn't done anything threatening to Oscar, but the cat had sensed something, something that put him on edge. **

"Is this where you two get captured and taken back to the academy?" Sydney and Karolina ask together.

"It'll be in the story," Lissa replies and continues reading.

**Something similar to what he always sensed in me.**

"Are you saying you had a Dramphir stalker?" Adrian asks.

"Adrian!" Sydney and I yell together.

"What?" he asks innocently.

Sydney rolls her eyes at him and I just glare at him for what feels like the 1000th time today.

**Icy fear raced through me, almost—but not quite—eradicating the lovely bliss of Lissa's bite. Backing up from the window, I jerked on a pair of jeans that I found on the floor, nearly falling over in the process. **

"Were you naked?" Adrian asks, and Sydney shots him a glare.

"I don't think your girlfriend liked that comment too much," I reply.

"How do you know?"

"One she is shooting you a really evil glare right now, and if it had been my boyfriend who had asked a girl that we—or rather I—would be seeing his ghost right now," I say to Adrian.

With that comment I saw Dimitri pale a little bit, and Viktoria and Sonya burst out laughing.

"What's wrong Dimka? You look like you've just seen a _ghost_," Viktoria teases him.

"Who would have thought? Guardian Belikov does have a fear—Rose," Janine says, and Abe chuckles. Probably at the thought of my boyfriend being afraid of me. With that I decide to help Dimitri out a little bit because it is my job to tease him, not everyone else's.

"Dimitri you know I would never hurt you, so you have nothing to worry about," I say.

"Just don't make her mad," Christian adds, and I shot him a glare, as does Lissa, and she continues reading.

**Once they were on, I grabbed my coat and Lissa's, along with our wallets. Shoving my feet into the first shoes I saw, I headed out the door.**

**Downstairs, I found her in the cramped kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator. One of our housemates, Jeremy, sat at the table, hand on his forehead as he stared sadly at a calculus book. Lissa regarded me with surprise.**

**"You shouldn't be up."**

**"We have to go. Now."**

**Her eyes widened, and then a moment later, understanding clicked in. "Are you…really? Are you sure?"**

**I nodded. I couldn't explain how I knew for sure. I just did.**

**Jeremy watched us curiously. "What's wrong?"**

**An idea came to mind. "Liss, get his car keys."**

"How the hell are you going to get…oh. Compulsion. Never mind," says Mia.

**He looked back and forth between us. "What are you—"**

**Lissa unhesitatingly walked over to him. Her fear poured into me through our psychic bond, but there was something else too: her complete faith that I would take care of everything, that we would be safe. Like always, I hoped I was worthy of that kind of trust.**

"Rose you should never worry about that. Of course you are worthy of that kind of trust. I've never trusted someone as much as I trust you," Lissa reassures me.

"Thanks Liss."

**She smiled broadly and gazed directly into his eyes. For a moment, Jeremy just stared, still confused, and then I saw the thrall seize him. His eyes glazed over, and he regarded her adoringly.**

**"We need to borrow your car," she said in a gentle voice. "Where are your keys?"**

**He smiled, and I shivered. I had a high resistance to compulsion, but I could still feel its effects when it was directed at another person. That, and I'd been taught my entire life that using it was wrong. **

"At least you learned something at that school of yours," Abe says.

"Shut up old man," I shoot at him, and to my surprise he does actually shut up.

**Reaching into his pocket, Jeremy handed over a set of keys hanging on a large red key chain.**

**"Thank you," said Lissa. "And where is it parked?"**

**"Down the street," he said dreamily. "At the corner. By Brown." Four blocks away.**

**"Thank you," she repeated, backing up. "As soon as we leave, I want you to go back to studying. Forget you ever saw us tonight."**

"You know him forgetting wouldn't have helped you two seeing as how we already knew where you were, and had the area surrounded in case you did try to escape," Dimitri enlightens us.

"You really thought of everything didn't you?" I ask sarcastically.

"We did actually," he answered my question anyway.

"Of course you did comrade," I mumble under my breath, and I didn't think Dimitri heard me until I heard him give a slight chuckle.

**He nodded obligingly. I got the impression he would have walked off a cliff for her right then if she'd asked. All humans were susceptible to compulsion, but Jeremy appeared weaker than most. That came in handy right now.**

"You're a skilled guardian Rose. I didn't think you needed luck," Mikhail jokes.

"What is this? Pick at Rose Hathaway day!" I exclaim to everyone's amusement. "I'm glade I amuse you all," I groan.

"There's never a dull moment when we're around you Little Dramphir," Adrian says.

**"Come on," I told her. "We've got to move."**

**We stepped outside, heading toward the corner he'd named. I was still dizzy from the bite and kept stumbling, unable to move as quickly as I wanted. Lissa had to catch hold of me a few times to stop me from falling. **

"Badass Rose Hathaway taken down by a street. Classic," Eddie laughs.

**All the time, that anxiety rushed into me from her mind. I tried my best to ignore it; I had my own fears to deal with.**

"Rose Hathaway. Afraid of something. I _must_ be dreaming," Mia says.

"Ha ha ha Mia. Very funny," I respond.

**"Rose…what are we going to do if they catch us?" she whispered.**

**"They won't," I said fiercely. "I won't let them."**

"If I had a dime for all the times Rose Hathaway has been wrong I would be a very wealthy man," Christian says. "Wait I am rich. Well you all get what I mean."

I roll my eyes to keep from killing Christian.

**"But if they've found us—"**

**"They found us before. They didn't catch us then. We'll just drive over to the train station and go to L.A. They'll lose the trail."**

"You make that sound simple," Olena points out.

**I made it sound simple. I always did, even though there was nothing simple about being on the run from the people we'd grown up with. We'd been doing it for two years, hiding wherever we could and just trying to finish high school. Our senior year had just started, and living on a college campus had seemed safe. We were so close to freedom.**

**She said nothing more, and I felt her faith in me surge up once more. This was the way it had always been between us. I was the one who took action, who made sure things happened— sometimes recklessly so. **

"Sometimes?" Dimitri asked.

"Yeah, _sometimes_," I replied and Dimitri just shook his head.

**She was the more reasonable one, the one who thought things out and researched them extensively before acting. **

"You got that right. Someone had to be the brains and use common sense because Rose sure wasn't," Christian remarked.

I was just about tired of him and his smart comments, and I was about to curse him out when I was interrupted.

"You've got that right," my mom added.

Oh well I'll be damned. Now I was really made. Who did these people think they were picking at Rose Hathaway. I was so going to teach them a lesson.

_Calm down Rose. _Lissa said through the bond. _You know Christian is just being Christian he can't help it. It's what you two do, so please don't do anything rash._

I just nodded my head.

"Whatever Lissa just said I agree with it 100 percent," I heard Dimitri say.

How did he know Lissa had talked to me through the bond?

**Both styles had their uses, but at the moment, recklessness was called for. We didn't have time to hesitate.**

**Lissa and I had been best friends ever since kindergarten, when our teacher had paired us together for writing lessons. Forcing five-year-olds to spell **_**Vasilisa Dragomir **_**and **_**Rosemarie Hathaway **_**was beyond cruel, and we'd—or rather, **_**I'd **_**—responded appropriately. I'd chucked my book at our teacher and called her a fascist bastard. I hadn't known what those words meant, but I'd known how to hit a moving target.**

Everyone in the room burst out laughing at this part, even my parents and Yeva are laughing, which is kind of creepy.

"Rose I can just imagine you doing that," I hear Mikhail say.

"I remember her doing it," Eddie adds.

**Lissa and I had been inseparable ever since.**

"I can imagine. What better way to become friends and bond than throwing books at teachers and calling them fascist bastards," Christian says, and it sends everyone into a fit of laughter again.

**"Do you hear that?" she asked suddenly.**

**It took me a few seconds to pick up what her sharper senses already had. Footsteps, moving fast. I grimaced. We had two more blocks to go.**

**"We've got to run for it," I said, catching hold of her arm.**

**"But you can't—"**

**"Run."**

**It took every ounce of my willpower not to pass out on the sidewalk. My body didn't want to run after losing blood or while still metabolizing the effects of her saliva. But I ordered my muscles to stop their bitching and clung to Lissa as our feet pounded against the concrete. Normally I could have outrun her without any extra effort—particularly since she was barefoot—but tonight, she was all that held me upright.**

**The pursuing footsteps grew louder, closer. Black stars danced before my eyes. Ahead of us, I could make out Jeremy's green Honda. Oh God, if we could just make it—**

**Ten feet from the car, a man stepped directly into our path. We came to a screeching halt, and I jerked Lissa back by her arm. It was **_**him, **_**the guy I'd seen across the street watching me. **

"Your stalker finally decided to show his face," Adrian says. "It took him long enough," he adds.

**He was older than us, maybe mid-twenties, and as tall as I'd figured, probably six-six or six-seven. And under different circumstances—say, when he wasn't holding up our desperate escape—I would have thought he was hot. **

Dimitri smiled a little at this part and I realized how annoying it would be to have this entire book in my point of view so that everyone would know what I was thinking. This, I'm sure, is going to get pretty embarrassing.

**Shoulder-length brown hair, tied back in a short ponytail. Dark brown eyes. A long brown coat—a duster, I thought it was called.**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Are you saying Dimitri was your stalker," Adrian asks.

"I was not stalking her; I was there to bring her back to the academy. Plus that was the first night we found them, so no I was not stalking them," Dimitri hisses at Adrian.

**But his hotness was irrelevant now. **

"You're not the only one who thought he was hot at first glance," Mia said and I shot her a glare and everyone in the room looked at her in astonishment. "What?" she asks. "I was just going to say that when he first got to campus every girl at the academy wanted him."

"Nice save Mia," I say "because I was so about to jump across this room and kick your pallor ass."

She winces a little bit and Dimitri shakes his head at me again.

"What?" I ask him.

"Nothing," he replies.

"If you think I am going to let another girl hit on you you have another thing coming. You are my boyfriend and if anyone is going to hit on you it is going to be me," I growl.

"Aren't we possessive," Lissa says and I shot her a glare as Dimitri chuckles, and she continues reading.

**He was only an obstacle keeping Lissa and me away from the car and our freedom. The footsteps behind us slowed, and I knew our pursuers had caught up. Off to the sides, I detected more movement, more people closing in. God. They'd sent almost a dozen guardians to retrieve us. I couldn't believe it. The queen herself didn't travel with that many.**

"You were a little hard to track down, so we needed all the help we could get. Plus we kind of thought you were dangerous seeing as how you got past all of the academy's security," Dimitri informed me.

"The only thing dangerous about Rose is her mouth," Christian says.

"How true," Dimitri concedes, and I shot him another glare. Why did it feel like I had been giving those out all night like lemonade on a hot day.

**Panicked and not entirely in control of my higher reasoning,**

"When are you ever in control of your higher reasoning?" my mom asks.

"Are you saying I can't control myself?" I ask.

"That's exactly what she is saying, and you know she's right," Dimitri says and I sit back in my seat and pout.

"Little Dramphir, you look very sexy when you do that," Adrian says and now it was Dimitri's turn to glare. When Adrian saw the murderous look on Dimitri's face he went paler than he had earlier when I threatened to kill him.

"Don't you _ever_ say that to her again," Dimitri warns Adrian in a voice so cold not even I recognize it.

"Aren't we possessive," Lissa says for the second time today, and Dimitri and I both shoot her glares, and she looks away and continues to read in a shaky voice.

…**I acted out of instinct. I pressed up to Lissa, keeping her behind me and away from the man who appeared to be the leader.**

**"Leave her alone," I growled. "Don't touch her."**

**His face was unreadable, but he held out his hands in what was apparently supposed to be some sort of calming gesture, like I was a rabid animal he was planning to sedate.**

**"I'm not going to—"**

**He took a step forward. Too close.**

**I attacked him, leaping out in an offensive maneuver I hadn't used in two years, not since Lissa and I had run away. The move was stupid, another reaction born of instinct and fear. And it was hopeless. He was a skilled guardian, not a novice who hadn't finished his training. He also wasn't weak and on the verge of passing out.**

"Don't you wish you had stayed in school now," my mother chastised with a smug expression plastered across her face.

I decided to play dumb and make her mad, just for the hell of it.

"Yeah, because I would have been at the academy when Dimitri arrived and we would have had more time to get to know each other," I reply innocently.

Abe shakes his head and Janine glares at me. Wow there were lots of those going around today, and I did not like being on the receiving end of one, so I immediately shut up.

**And man, was he fast. I'd forgotten how fast guardians could be, how they could move and strike like cobras. He knocked me off as though brushing away a fly, and his hands slammed into me and sent me backwards. I don't think he meant to strike that hard—probably just intended to keep me away—but my lack of coordination interfered with my ability to respond. Unable to catch my footing, I started to fall, heading straight toward the sidewalk at a twisted angle, hip-first. It was going to hurt. A **_**lot.**_

**Only it didn't.**

**Just as quickly as he'd blocked me, the man reached out and caught my arm, keeping me upright. When I'd steadied myself, I noticed he was staring at me—or, more precisely, at my neck. Still disoriented, I didn't get it right away. Then, slowly, my free hand reached up to the side of my throat and lightly touched the wound Lissa had made earlier. When I pulled my fingers back, I saw slick, dark blood on my skin. Embarrassed, I shook my hair so that it fell forward around my face. My hair was thick and long and completely covered my neck. I'd grown it out for precisely this reason.**

At the mention of my hair Dimitri glanced over at me probably imagining running his fingers through it.

**The guy's dark eyes lingered on the now-covered bite a moment longer and then met mine. I returned his look defiantly and quickly jerked out of his hold. He let me go, though I knew he could have restrained me all night if he'd wanted. Fighting the nauseating dizziness, I backed toward Lissa again, bracing myself for another attack. Suddenly, her hand caught hold of mine. "Rose," she said quietly. "Don't."**

"I told you Lissa was the brain," Christian said.

"Christian!" Tasha chastised.

**Her words had no effect on me at first, but calming thoughts gradually began to settle in my mind, coming across through the bond. It wasn't exactly compulsion—she wouldn't use that on me—but it was effectual, as was the fact that we were hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed. Even I knew struggling would be pointless. The tension left my body, and I sagged in defeat.**

"Rose Hathaway excepting defeat. The world must be coming to an end," Eddie said.

"Or Hell _must_ be freezing over," Christian added.

"Shut up," I scolded them.

"Make me," Christian says because Eddie wouldn't be stupid enough to challenge me.

"Christian, do not tempt or give Rose permission, or encourage her to hurt you because you know she will," Lissa warns him.

"You should listen to your girlfriend because she does know me better than you," I say.

"I'll…" Christian began.

"Christian you really should be quiet. I would hate to have to pull Rose off you because you willingly decided to piss her off," Dimitri interrupted. That made Christian shut up, much to my liking.

**Sensing my resignation, the man stepped forward, turning his attention to Lissa. His face was calm. He swept her a bow and managed to look graceful doing it, which surprised me considering his height. "My name is Dimitri Belikov," he said. I could hear a faint Russian accent. "I've come to take you back to 's Academy, Princess."**

"That's the end of chapter one," Lissa says. "Who wants to read next?"

"I volunteer Christian," I say. "It will give him something to do with his mouth."

"Rose you have no room to talk. You run your mouth just as much as I do. Why don't you do us the honor of reading next," Christian retorts.

"Why don't I read next," Dimitri offers trying to diffuse our argument before it begins. I love him so much. He is always trying to keep me out of trouble, but instead of voicing those sentiments I just say, "Fine comrade if you really want to, you can read." He just shakes his head at the use of his nickname and takes the book from Lissa.

"I always wanted to know what was going through your mind in Kirova's office," He says to me.

"Chapter two," he says in that Russian accent I love so much.

**That was Chapter one. Review and tell me how you feel about it. Did you like it, hate it, don't really have an opinion. Whatever you feel please let me know because I want to make this a entertaining for you all as possible. Review! Please and thank you. **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **

**I would like to thank the people who reviewed my last chapter. I really appreciate your comments. I want to especially thank **_**little dramphir **_**because if it was not for her this chapter would not be up as soon as it is. For all of you who like my fanfic and were eager to read my next chapter you have her to thank. Thank you to all the other reviewers too. Please continue to review. It helps me out a lot to know what you all are thinking. It doesn't matter whether you write one word or one paragraph all reviews are appreciated.**

"Chapter two," Dimitri says.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

At the sound of the knocking all the guardians in the room became instantly alert and all reached for and pulled out their stakes. I, however, was the only guardian in the room who had not reacted to the knocking. Since I have the uncanny ability to sense Strigoi, I knew for a fact that we were not in any danger.

"Put your states away and calm down," I say to the other guardians, but my mother and Mikhail look at me like I have lost my mind, at least until I begin to explain.

"I'm shadow-kissed remember, which means I can sense Strigoi, and since I am not nauseous at the moment that means there is not a Strigoi outside that door," I say pointing at the door "so can you all calm down now."

Dimitri was the first to comply with my orders because out of all the guardians in the room he was the most familiar with my shadow-kissed abilities, but after a few moments the other guardians followed suit, and I was amused at the looks on most of their faces. They may have known I was shadow-kissed, but they had no idea what that exactly meant.

"Wow! You can sense Strigoi? That is so cool," Paul, Dimitri's nephew, said with a wide grin.

"If you don't mind can we open the door now? I think the person outside may have died of boredom and exhaustion by now, since he or she has been out there so long," Adrian said in a joking manner. The news of me being able to sense Strigoi had not been news to him since he already knew, as did Lissa and Christian.

"Yeah," I reply while heading to the door. "Who is it?" I ask as soon as I am in front of the door.

"Jill and Guardian Petrov," I barley hear through the door. As soon as I heard those names I jerked the door open to see a beaming Jill and rather amused Alberta. I wonder what they found so amusing, and by me being Rose Hathaway you know I had to ask.

"What are you two so happy about?" I inquire.

"We heard what kept you guys from opening the door and it was actually pretty funny seeing as if we had been Strigoi we wouldn't have bothered to knock we would have just knocked the door down. Plus Adrian's comment was pretty funny," Jill replied.

"Oh," was all I replied "well, why don't you two come in and take a seat. We were just reading a book."

"Finally," I heard Christian say. "I was just about to ask Rose what rock she hid her hospitality under. It took forever for her to invite you guys in. I apologize on her behalf for her lack of manners."

I was so tired of Christian and his snarky comments for one day. "Christian shut up," I yelled turning around to face him "or I will find a nice big rock to hide you under."

He didn't even flinch at my comment. I guess when you are constantly receiving death threats you stop taking them seriously when the person never comes through on her promise, but if Christian thought that I really wouldn't kill him he had another thing coming. Just as I was about to storm over to him and punch him in the face a voice broke the silence.

"Hey Jill," Lissa said somewhat uncomfortably. I think she was still getting used to the fact that Jill was her half sister.

"Hey Lissa," Jill replied in the same tone. I don't think she was used to the idea of Lissa being her sister either, but as I looked at them I could see the resemblance. They both had light green eyes and they were both delicate and sort of angelic.

"Guardian Petrov, why are you here?" my mother asked.

"Once Jill received the letter informing her to come to court I decided to accompany her as her guardian," she answered "so what's going on here?" she asked.

"We are reading about Rose and her life at the academy," Tasha answered, and it shocked me because I had forgotten that she was here since she had been so quiet. Then I mentally wished that she would speak up more and keep Christian in line—if she valued his life.

"It's actually quite funny because it's in Rose's point of view," Adrian added. "Rose has given Lissa blood," I shot him a dirty look at that "they have been stalked, captured and returned to the academy, and she feel in love with Guardian Belikov," he finished with a smirk. That bastard. I was so going to kill him if I ever got the chance.

"I did not fall in love with Dimitri. I just said he was hot," I correct him.

"Like that's much better," Eddie whispered to Mia and she giggled. I shot them a glare that was similar to the one Abe had given me, and they both flinched—which of course made me extremely happy. Don't fuck with Rose Hathaway I added mentally.

"In Rose's world, what's the difference?" Adrian teased.

It was official. I really wanted to kill Adrian _now_.

"I was just about to begin reading chapter two," Dimitri said before I could even begin cursing Adrian out. "We just took Rose to Headmistress Kirova's office," he continued while looking at Alberta.

"Okay, let's begin," she said as she and Jill took their seats.

Dimitri began reading once I took my seat next to him and stopped glaring at Adrian.

**MY HATRED NOTWITHSTANDING, I HAD to admit Dimitri Beli-whatever was pretty smart. **

"Rose I would have never guessed you hated Dimitri," Christian interrupted. "As close as you guys are I would have thought it was love at first sight, not hate, but there is a fine line between love and hate."

"Christian, the only person in this room I hate is you. Now shut up I would like to hear the story without you butting in every five seconds." I reply.

"How about both of you shut up," Lissa said. "And Rose you replying to Christian is not making it any better, it just encourages him to keep talking because he knows it's pissing you off."

I was so stunned that I couldn't even think of anything to say—which is not normal because Rose Hathaway is never at a loss for words because I have a dictionary full of smartass comments. Since I could find nothing to say I sat all the way back in my seat and waited for Dimitri to begin reading again, which he did when he figured I had nothing else to say.

**After they'd carted us off to the airport to and onto the Academy's private jet, he'd taken one look at the two of us whispering and ordered us separated.**

**"Don't let them talk to each other," he warned the guardian who escorted me to the back of the plane. **

"That was a really good idea Guardian Belikov," my mother complemented him. "Knowing them they were probably planning an escape."

"I thought so too, that's why I had them separated," he replied and began to read again.

**"Five minutes together, and they'll come up with an escape plan."**

**I shot him a haughty look and stormed off down the aisle. Never mind the fact we **_**had **_**been planning escape.**

"You two couldn't have been more obvious," Mia commented. "Even I knew that's what you were doing and I wasn't even there," she finished.

I was so tired of being the object of everyone's comments. What did a girl have to do to get a break around here? Damn! Was that too much to ask?

**As it was, things didn't look good for our heroes—or heroines, rather. Once we were in the air, our odds of escape dropped further. Even supposing a miracle occurred and I did manage to take out all ten guardians, we'd sort of have a problem in getting off the plane. **

"Rose does have a brain," Christian yelled. "Not even the badass Rose Hathaway could take out ten guardians, especially since you couldn't even lay a hand on Dimitri when he caught you and Lissa. I think you would have had a _little_ trouble trying to take him out," he said in a sarcastic voice as Lissa shot him a glare that said _shut-up-before-she-hurts-you_.

I was done talking to Christian and threatening him. It was about time I did something to make him shut up, and with that thought I was up out of my seat and halfway to him before I even knew what was happening. Once I stood in front of him with my fist balled up he went pale and began to sweat. About time he realized Rose Hathaway was no one to fuck with. Just as my fist was about to make contact with his face I felt a hand over my fist restraining me. I knew who it was before I turned around.

"Let go of me. He deserves any and everything I do to him. Plus if I do too much damage his girlfriend can just heal him up," I yell at my mother.

"Rose," she said in a stern voice that said _that-was-your-first-and-last-warning_.

"Get your hands off me," I continued to yell as I flailed around in her strong grip. I was shocked she was so strong seeing as I was significantly taller than her, but as I thought about it I wasn't as shocked because when she gave me a black eye her punch had packed the force of a small truck.

"Rose." This time the voice was different, and I instantly knew who it was. As he approached me I got a whiff of his aftershave and I calmed down a little bit. As he laid his hand on my right shoulder I calmed down further, and after a few more second I let Dimitri lead me back to my seat, much to everyone's astonishment. They had never seen me calm down that fast, and I think they were shocked that all Dimitri had to do was touch me to calm me down.

"Remind me to never get on Rose Hathaway's bad side," Adrian remarked breaking the silence.

"Well then I would advise you to shut up because you are skating on thin ice Ivashkov," I replied, and everyone went silent as Dimitri began to read again.

**I figured they might have parachutes aboard somewhere, but in the unlikely event I'd be able to operate one, there was still that little issue of survival, seeing as we'd probably land somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.**

I saw Christian's lips turn up into a smirk and I instantly knew he had something smart to say, but for his own good he kept it to himself much to my liking.

**No, we weren't getting off this plane until it landed in backwoods Montana. I'd have to think of something then, something that involved getting past the Academy's magical wards and ten times as many guardians. Yeah. No problem.**

"Why was it such a big deal getting past the guardians?" Mikhail asked and by the look on Eddie's face I could tell he had the same question. "It wasn't like you hadn't done it before."

"Don't encourage them!" Abe yelled outraged.

"I wasn't I was just asking because I was curious," Mikhail replied. "Plus we all know they didn't break out again, so there was no harm in the question," he added trying to appease my father because he had a murderous look on his face. I see where I get my attitude from I thought to myself.

"It's no big deal so calm down old man," I say to my father. "And to answer your question Mikhail. Well, I knew that once we got back the guardians were going to be watching us like a hawk, so I knew it would be harder to escape once we got back."

**Although Lissa sat at the front with the Russian guy, her fear sang back to me, pounding inside my head like a hammer. My concern for her cut into my fury. They couldn't take her back **_**there, **_**not to that place. I wondered if Dimitri might have hesitated if he could feel what I did and if he knew what I knew. Probably not. He didn't care.**

"Wait, what do you mean I didn't care?" Dimitri asked fighting to stay in control of his emotions.

"I took her away from the academy because of what I knew, and you came to take her back to that hellhole, so I assumed you didn't care," I stated in a nonchalant way. "Plus I didn't know you as well as I do now. Now I know you care, but then, you were just some stranger who was dragging us to the very last place we needed to be," I answered his question.

He turned my response over in his head for a few seconds, and once he was satisfied he began to read again.

**As it was, her emotions grew so strong that for a moment, I had the disorienting sensation of sitting in her seat—in her **_**skin **_**even. **

"Wow that's some serious shit right there," Christian said echoing his earlier comment.

I just ignored him, but everyone else looked as if they agreed with Christian. That's a first, and for a moment I wondered if I had died and gone to Hell.

**It happened sometimes, and without much warning, she'd pull me right into her head. Dimitri's tall frame sat beside me, and my hand—**_**her **_**hand—gripped a bottle of water. He leaned forward to pick up something, revealing six tiny symbols tattooed on the back of his neck: **_**molnija **_**marks. **

My boyfriend's a badass I thought to myself smiling. Dimitri shot me a curious look and stopped reading. He was about to ask me what was wrong when someone cut him off before he could start.

"Little dramphir, do you remember when you asked me if you were crazy or not?" Adrian asked.

"Yes," I answered not liking the direction this conversation was taking.

"Do you remember what I said?"

"You said you didn't think I was crazy, but you thought I had been through a lot," I reply.

"Wow, that sounds uncharacteristically serious for Adrian. Are you sure he said that and you didn't imagine it," Eddie joked.

"Hey, I can be serious at times. I'm not a complete goofball," Adrian replied.

"Yeah, and the sky is red," Christian added.

Adrian shot Christian a look and said, "It's nice that you remember little dramphir because now I think I should take that comment back. I think you really are crazy. You were just over there smiling to yourself like a mad woman. Do you care to explain what was so amusing?"

I wanted to get up and beat Adrian senseless. How dare he insult my sanity? Of course I wasn't crazy, but instead of beating him to death like I wanted to I just responded to his absurd comment.

"No, I do not care to explain, but let it be noted that the next time you call my sanity into question I will cheerfully beat you to death," I said with a sickly sweet smile.

As I looked around the room my gaze fell upon Abe and boy was he one proud papa. What was he so happy about? Dimitri looked amused too, probably because I had just threatened to take Adrian's life _again_. My mother threw her hands up in exasperation, but everyone else in the room looked indifferent. They expected no less from Rose Hathaway.

**They looked like two streaks of jagged lightning crossing in an X symbol. One for each Strigoi he'd killed. Above them was a twisting line, sort of like a snake, that marked him as a guardian. The promise mark.**

**Blinking, I fought against her and shifted back into my own head with a grimace. I hated when that happened. Feeling Lissa's emotions was one thing, but slipping into her was something we both despised. She saw it as an invasion of privacy, so I usually didn't tell her when it happened. **

"What do you mean you usually don't tell me when it happens," Lissa exclaimed.

"Calm down Liss," I said.

"Rose," she said "How often does it happen?" she asked.

"Normally when you are feeling _intense_ emotions," I responded looking directly at Christian.

Dimitri, Eddie, Mia, Adrian, and Viktoria noticed where I was looking and let out a slight chuckle.

"Rose!" she yelled "that is an invasion of privacy." By now everyone else had caught on.

"What!" I yelled right back. "I don't like it any more than you do, which is why I do my best to block you."

"Oh."

Oh, that was about all she could say. I could tell she was uncomfortable and slightly mad, so I waved my hand in Dimitri's direction to let him know he could start reading again.

**Neither of us could control it. It was another effect of the bond, a bond neither of us fully understood. Legends existed about psychic links between guardians and their Moroi, but the stories had never mentioned anything like this. We fumbled through it as best we could.**

**Near the end of the flight, Dimitri walked back to where I sat and traded places with the guardian beside me. I pointedly turned away, staring out the window absentmindedly. Several moments of silence passed. Finally, he said, "Were you really going to attack all of us?"**

"I would like to know the answer to that one myself," Janine muttered under her breath.

**I didn't answer.**

**"Doing that…protecting her like that—it was very brave." He paused.**

"Brave!" Janine exclaimed. "That was not brave. Stupid is a better word to describe her actions."

"Mom calm down," I say "You should let Dimitri finish," I add in a bitter tone.

_**"Stupid, **_**but still brave. Why did you even try it?"**

Once my mother heard Dimitri tell me it was stupid she got a smug expression on her face. God. At times I really hated that woman. I just rolled my eyes as I stared at her across the room.

**I glanced over at him, brushing my hair out of my face so I could look him levelly in the eye. "Because I'm her guardian." I turned back toward the window.**

"Ha," Janine says. "You were not a guardian. You were a novice. You could have gotten yourself and Lissa killed. A guardian would never endanger the life of a Moroi the way you did."

"I did protect her," I shouted. I was tired of having to defend my actions. This conversation should not even be happening seeing as it was a while ago that I ran away with Lissa. "She is still alive is she not?" I asked my mom in a harsh tone. "If you knew why we left then maybe you wouldn't be so quick to judge."

I guess I got my temper from Janine Hathaway too because as soon as I said that last sentence she was out of her seat shouting obscenities at me. Abe had to practically tackle her to the ground to shut her up.

**After another quiet moment, he stood up and returned to the front of the jet.**

**When we landed, Lissa and I had no choice but to let the commandos drive us out to the Academy. Our car stopped at the gate, and our driver spoke with guards who verified we weren't Strigoi about to go off on a killing spree. After a minute, they let us pass on through the wards and up to the Academy itself. **

"For guardians to be so smart they are really stupid," Adrian said earning glares from all the guardians in the room. "What I meant to say is that if they had been Strigoi then their captives would have been dead. That's all I was trying to say," he added.

I looked around the room and to my surprise I saw pain in Dimitri's eyes. _'…spoke with guards who verified we weren't Strigoi…' _I repeated in my head. Dimitri must have been thinking about when he had to prove he was no longer Strigoi. Even though he tried to tell me otherwise, I knew it pained him to think of his days as a Strigoi and when he was first changed back. When I looked back at Dimitri our eyes met and a small smile crossed his lips. I don't know what he saw in my eyes. Maybe it was understanding or maybe it was compassion or maybe it was love or maybe it was a combination of all three. I don't know, but whatever it was it made the pain in his eyes fade, and I felt content that I had that effect on him.

**It was around sunset—the start of the vampiric day—and the campus lay wrapped in shadows.**

**It probably looked the same, sprawling and gothic. The Moroi were big on tradition; nothing ever changed with them. This school wasn't as old as the ones back in Europe, but it had been built in the same style. The buildings boasted elaborate, almost churchlike architecture, with high peaks and stone carvings. Wrought iron gates enclosed small gardens and doorways here and there. After living on a college campus, I had a new appreciation for just how much this place resembled a university more than a typical high school.**

"Rose I had no idea you knew that much about architecture," Sydney said.

I just smiled at her and said, "There are lots of things about me that most of you don't know."

"But we will find out, right little dramphir? This entire series is in your point of view. There isn't much you will be able to hide from us anymore," Adrian said with a knowing smirk plastered on his face.

I had the urge to smack that smirk off his face, but I decided against it knowing that he was right. I don't know which was more shocking. Me deciding not to hit Adrian or him being right for a change. I decided this was too good to pass up, so I voiced my thoughts.

"Adrian I don't know which is more astonishing, me deciding not to injure you or you actually being right for a change," I say to him.

Lissa let out a giggle at this, as did Mia and Jill.

"Ah, very funny little dramphir, but I don't know which I like better, your tough girl persona or your um… assets." he replied with a cocky smile.

I felt Dimitri stiffen beside me because Adrian mentioned my assets in a suggestive way, and he threw Adrian a glare so full of malice I was thanking God it wasn't being directed at me—and we all know Rose Hathaway does not believe in a God, so for me to say that you know it had to be serious. Adrian went so pale and stiff under that glare that I thought he was dead, but I just hit the floor laughing when he began to turn blue in the face. That had to be the funniest thing I had ever seen. I wasn't the only one enjoying this because Eddie, Christian, Viktoria, Lissa, and Jill all joined me on the floor in laughter.

"Could you stop glaring at my boyfriend?" Sydney asked Dimitri in a meek voice. She was probably afraid he would turn his glare to her, but at her request he turned away from Adrian, but he was so mad you could practically see the steam rising from his head. That just made me laugh even harder.

"Thanks Syd," Adrian said to his girlfriend and she nailed him in the face. "That," she said "is for flirting with another girl."

Adrian was stunned that Sydney had just hit him, but it sent all of us on the floor into hysterics.

"Shut up," Adrian shouted at us, but it just made us laugh even harder, if that is even possible. I was laughing so hard by now I was crying, and my stomach hurt like hell. By the time we finished laughing I think five minutes had passed so instead of wasting more time we let Dimitri continue to read.

**We were on the secondary campus, which was divided into lower and upper schools. Each was built around a large open quadrangle decorated with stone paths and enormous, century-old trees. We were going toward the upper school's quad, which had academic buildings on one side, while dhampirs dormitories and the gym sat opposite. Moroi dorms sat on one of the other ends, and opposite them were the administrative buildings that also served the lower school. Younger students lived on the primary campus, farther to the west.**

**Around all the campuses was space, space, and more space. We were in Montana, after all, miles away from any real city. The air felt cool in my lungs and smelled of pine and wet, decaying leaves. Overgrown forests ringed the perimeters of the Academy, and during the day, you could see mountains rising up in the distance.**

**As we walked into the main part of the upper school, I broke from my guardian and ran up to Dimitri.**

**"Hey, Comrade."**

"Where," Dimitri asked "did you come up with that ridiculous nickname?"

"I don't really know. It just came to me, so I decided to use it."

**He kept walking and wouldn't look at me. "You want to talk now?"**

**"Are you taking us to Kirova?"**

**"Headmistress Kirova," he corrected. On the other side of him, Lissa shot me a look that said, **_**Don't start something.**_

"I was not going to start something," I tell Lissa, but she just rolls her eyes.

"Yeah right Rose. When are you ever not starting something," she replied and she got a few laughs from the guardians.

"Rose if there is something to start it has your name written all over it in capital letters," Christian adds.

"Rose you can't deny Christian that one. He has a point. In all the time I have know you not once was there a time you were not getting into a fight, starting a fight, getting in trouble, or starting trouble," Dimitri says, and I was truly at a loss for words, and I was pissed he sided with Christian and Lissa. I shot all three of them my fiercest glare—which only seemed to work on the two Moroi because Dimitri just continued reading.

**"Headmistress. Whatever. She's still a self-righteous old bit—"**

"Rose, how dare you speak ill of your headmistress," my mother says in a disapproving voice.

I just roll my eyes at her and think that if I had a penny for every time I head someone say my name in a disapproving tone I would be the richest woman in the entire universe, and that's saying something since I would be earning pennies.

**My words faded as the guardians led us through a set of doors—straight into the commons. I sighed. Were these people **_**really **_**so cruel? There had to be at least a dozen ways to get to Kirova's office, and they were taking us right through the center of the commons.**

"It was my idea," Dimitri said, amusement lacing his every word.

I could have smacked Dimitri right then and there, and I don't think I have ever wanted to do that before. Well there's a first time for everything isn't there.

**And it was breakfast time.**

"That really was cruel and unusual punishment Dimitri," Christian said. "Isn't there a law against that?" he asks.

"No it wasn't," Dimitri replies. "I just wanted everyone to know that the girls were back at school, and what faster way to do so than to take then through the place where most of their peers were," he adds. "Oh, and to answer your question, yes there is a law against cruel and unusual punishment. The eighth amendment."

And with that he continued reading.

**Novice guardians—dhampirs like me—and Moroi sat together, eating and socializing, faces alight with whatever current gossip held the Academy's attention. When we entered, the loud buzz of conversation stopped instantly, like someone had flipped a switch. Hundreds of sets of eyes swiveled toward us.**

**I returned the stares of my former classmates with a lazy grin, trying to get a sense as to whether things had changed. Nope. Didn't seem like it. Camille Conta still looked like the prim, perfectly groomed bitch I remembered, still the self-appointed leader of the Academy's royal Moroi cliques. **

"How true," Mia agrees.

**Off to the side, Lissa's gawky near-cousin Natalie watched with wide eyes, as innocent and naive as before.**

I let out a groan when Dimitri read her name. That bitch had tried to kill me, and if it hadn't been for Dimitri I would be dead right now. I guess we had a lot to be grateful to each other for.

**And on the other side of the room…well, that was interesting. Aaron. Poor, poor Aaron, who'd no doubt had his heart broken when Lissa left. He still looked as cute as ever—maybe more so now—with those same golden looks that complemented hers so well. His eyes followed her every move. Yes. Definitely not over her. It was sad, really, because Lissa had never really been all that into him. I think she'd gone out with him simply because it seemed like the expected thing to do.**

**But what I found most interesting was that Aaron had apparently found a way to pass the time without her. Beside him, holding his hand, was a Moroi girl who looked about eleven but had to be older, unless he'd become a pedophile during our absence. **

Everyone in the room tried to stifle there giggles. I mean the comment was pretty funny.

"Oh come on Mia. You have to admit that it was funny," I say to her.

"I do not look that young," she protests.

"Yeah," Eddie says "Mia looks all grown up now," he says, heavy sarcasm dripping from every word. She punches him in the arm and he winces. I forgot that Mia had been training with guardians. I think Eddie did to because otherwise he wouldn't have made that comment. This sent me back to my earlier thoughts. I so had to work on making those two an item.

**With plump little cheeks and blond ringlets, she looked like a porcelain doll. **

"A porcelain doll," she yelps.

"Oh Mia calm down. You and I both know that porcelain dolls are very cute," I say. "Right Eddie?" I ask.

"Um…y-yeah," he says in a nervous voice.

After Eddie said that, Mia began to blush. Jackpot I think to myself with triumph. Dimitri and Lissa look at me with confused expressions trying to figure out what I'm thinking when all of a sudden understanding flashes through the bond and Lissa says _Rose you are a genius_. She has a triumphant look on her face that I'm sure mirrors mine and we smile at each other. Dimitri still hasn't figured it out. When it came to his job he was extremely perceptive, but when it came to relationships he couldn't be more clueless. Guys I thought to myself.

**A very pissed off and evil porcelain doll. She gripped his hand tightly and shot Lissa a look of such burning hatred that it stunned me. What the hell was that all about? She was no one I knew. Just a jealous girlfriend, I guessed. I'd be pissed too if my guy was watching someone else like that.**

**Our walk of shame mercifully ended, though our new setting—Headmistress Kirova's office—didn't really improve things. The old hag looked exactly like I remembered, sharp-nosed and gray-haired. She was tall and slim, like most Moroi, and had always reminded me of a vulture. **

My mother shakes her head at my description of Kirova, but to my surprise everyone else laughs.

**I knew her well because I'd spent a lot of time in her office.**

"For some reason that doesn't surprise me at all," Abe says.

**Most of our escorts left us once Lissa and I were seated, and I felt a little less like a prisoner. Only Alberta, the captain of the school's guardians, and Dimitri stayed. They took up positions along the wall, looking stoic and terrifying, just as their job description required.**

My mother opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and didn't voice her opinion. Thank goodness.

**Kirova fixed her angry eyes on us and opened her mouth to begin what would no doubt be a major bitch session. A deep, gentle voice stopped her.**

My mother cringes at the adjectives I used to describe our lecture, but Dimitri and Alberta looked amused.

**"Vasilisa."**

**Startled, I realized there was someone else in the room. I hadn't noticed. Careless for a guardian, even a novice one. **

"Yes, that was very careless of you Rose. You couldn't even take the time out to fully search a room, but you expected everyone to think you did a great good protecting the princess," my mother exclaimed. "If that is any indication of how you guarded her in the real world I am shocked you are still alive," she added in a harsh tone.

"Janine calm down," Abe instructed her.

**With a great deal of effort, Victor Dashkov rose from a corner chair. **

Lissa went stiff in her seat at the mention of that bastard's name. He had kidnapped her and tortured her so she would heal him. He was supposed to be like an uncle to her, but he just used her, and I think the fact that he was supposed to be like family was what really made it so bad for her.

_**Prince **_**Victor Dashkov. Lissa sprang up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his frail body.**

"I can't believe I was that stupid," Lissa hisses.

"Lissa calm down. What's in the past is in the past we can't go back and do anything to change it. I know it hurts to think about what he did to you, but you don't have to worry about that now. You don't _need _to worry about that. We all wish we knew what he had been planning, but we didn't, and like I said we can't change the past, so just let it go," Christian tells her.

I think everyone in the room was shocked. They had never seen this side of Christian, not even his Aunt Tasha. He only showed this side of himself to Lissa, and right now I was glade he did because she began to calm down.

"I'm sorry for my outburst. You can continue reading now Dimitri," she says.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," he tells her and continues reading.

**"Uncle," she whispered. She sounded on the verge of tears as she tightened her grip.**

**With a small smile, he gently patted her back. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa." He looked toward me. "And you too, Rose."**

"Bullshit," I blurt out.

"Rose calm down," Dimitri says. "Did you not listen to a word Christian said?"

"I listened, but I am not the type to…you know what, just forget it. Keep reading."

"Rose, tell us what you…," he says before I interrupt him.

"No."

He turns to look me in the eye and I see that he is deeply concerned for me.

"Fine," I say. "I still haven't forgiven that sun of a bitch for what he did to me—for what he did to us," I say as I look straight at him.

"What did he do to you two?" Olena asks.

No one knew about the lust charm that was put on me and Dimitri, not even Lissa knew everything about that. They still thought he compelled me to attack Dimitri. Boy are they in for a surprise when we get to that part of the book…wait a damn minute. My sex life is going to be in this book for everyone to find out. That was going to be beyond embarrassing.

"I'm sure it's in the book," I say to her, and my voice was just above a whisper.

She nods and Dimitri continues reading.

**I nodded back, trying to hide how shocked I was. He'd been sick when we left, but this—this was **_**horrible. **_**He was Natalie's father, only about forty or so, but he looked twice that age. Pale. Withered. Hands shaking. My heart broke watching him. With all the horrible people in the world, it didn't seem fair that this guy should get a disease that was going to kill him young and ultimately keep him from becoming king.**

"Boy was I naive," was the only thing I managed to say.

**Although not technically her uncle—the Moroi used family terms very loosely, especially the royals—Victor was a close friend of Lissa's family and had gone out of his way to help her after her parents had died. I liked him; he was the first person I was happy to see here.**

After I heard that I wanted to kick myself for being stupid.

**Kirova let them have a few more moments and then stiffly drew Lissa back to her seat.**

**Time for the lecture.**

**It was a good one—one of Kirova's best, which was saying something. She was a master at them. **

"I'm sure you would know," my mother shoots, and I just roll my eyes.

"We all know Kirova's office was Rose's home away from home," Eddie jokes.

I roll my eyes at my friend too, and gesture for Dimitri to continue reading.

**I swear that was the only reason she'd gone into school administration, because I had yet to see any evidence of her actually **_**liking **_**kids. **

"For once I agree with Rose," Christian says. "I've been to Kirova's office a lot of times and I didn't see any evidence that she liked kids either."

"She was a good headmistress though," Lissa says.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I say. I would never admit that I thought she was a good headmistress too.

**The rant covered the usual topics: responsibility reckless behavior, self-centeredness.…Bleh. I immediately found myself spacing out, alternatively pondering the logistics of escaping through the window in her office.**

I mother gives an exasperated sigh at this and shakes her head.

**But when the tirade shifted to me—well, that was when I tuned back in.**

**"You, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred promise among our kind: the promise of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away from here. **

"I took her away because she was in danger at the academy, not for selfish reasons," I exclaim, but I settle down once I realize I am not in Kirova's office.

**The Strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomirs; **_**you **_**nearly enabled them to do it."**

**"Rose didn't kidnap me." Lissa spoke before I could, her voice and face calm, despite her uneasy feelings. "I wanted to go. Don't blame her."**

"She is a really good friend protecting you like that," Sydney said.

"Yeah, I'm lucky to have her," I respond.

"I'm lucky to have you too," Lissa says. "Plus, you were always protecting me, so I thought it was about time to return the favor."

**Ms. Kirova **_**tsk**_**ed at us both and paced the office, hands folded behind her narrow back.**

**"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one who orchestrated the entire plan for all I know, but it was still **_**her **_**responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out. If she'd done her duty, she would have notified someone. **

"That wasn't fair," Abe exclaims.

At least one of my parents was on my side. My mother glared at him and he abruptly shut up.

**If she'd done her duty, she would have kept you safe." **

"Wait a damn minute," I yell at the top of my lungs. "I did keep her safe."

"We know you did Rose. Now please calm down so I can continue reading," Dimitri says.

**I snapped.**

**"I **_**did **_**do my duty!" I shouted, jumping up from my chair. Dimitri and Alberta both flinched but left me alone since I wasn't trying to hit anyone. **

"At least not yet," Alberta says.

**Yet. **

"What did I tell you. I know Rose so well. Kirova isn't the only administrator Rose had a lot of contact with," she says.

**"I did keep her safe! I kept her safe when none of **_**you" **_**—I made a sweeping gesture around the room—"could do it. **

"Exactly what were you keeping her safe from?" Janine asks, but I decide to ignore her.

**I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to."**

**Through the bond, I felt Lissa trying to send me calming messages, again urging me not to let anger get the best of me. Too late.**

**Kirova stared at me, her face blank. "Miss Hathaway, forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment is protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?"**

Hell yeah there was something I wasn't telling them.

**I bit my lip.**

**"I see. Well, then. By my estimation, the only reason you left—aside from the novelty of it, no doubt—was to avoid the consequences of that horrible, destructive stunt you pulled just before your disappearance."**

"What destructive stunt?" my mother and Sydney inquire at the same time.

"Nothing," I tell them.

**"No, that's not—"**

**"And that only makes my decision that much easier. As a Moroi, the princess must continue on here at the Academy for her own safety, but we have no such obligations to you. You will be sent away as soon as possible."**

"I didn't know she was that bitchy," Adrian says, and I give him a knowing smile, and he eats it up.

**My cockiness dried up. "I…what?"**

**Lissa stood up beside me. "You can't do that! She's my guardian."**

"No she wasn't. She was still a novice," my mother says outraged.

"Could you please be quiet," I hiss at her, and she looks like she wants to punch me—_again_.

**"She is no such thing, particularly since she isn't even a guardian at all. She's still a novice."**

"My sentiments exactly," is all my mother says.

**"But my parents—"**

**"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable. She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave."**

"Where did she plan on sending you?" Karolina asks me.

"_Away_," is my only answer.

**I stared at Kirova, unable to believe what I was hearing. "Where are you going to send me? To my mom in Nepal ? Did she even know I was gone? **

My mother flinched at this, and a smirk crossed my lips.

**Or maybe you'll send me off to my **_**father?"**_

**Her eyes narrowed at the bite in that last word. **

"It's not my fault I wasn't in your life," Abe shouts at me. "It was not my decision."

"Whatever," I say dismissively.

**When I spoke again, my voice was so cold, I barely recognized it.**

**"Or maybe you're going to try to send me off to be a blood whore. Try that, and we'll be gone by the end of the day."**

Dimitri's family flinched at my statement but said nothing. I guess they didn't take that to heart since _I _was the one who had been giving blood.

**"Miss Hathaway," she hissed, "you are out of line."**

"That's nothing new," Dimitri mutters under his breath, and I decide to let him off the hook—at least this time.

**"They have a bond." Dimitri's low, accented voice broke the heavy tension, and we all turned toward him. **

"How the hell did you know that?" Adrian asks bitterly.

"If you would stay quite long enough I might get the opportunity to read it," Dimitri replies in a composed tone, but I could see the anger in his eyes.

"Who are you talking to like that," Adrian demands. "Don't mess with me Belikov."

"I don't think you are in any position to be making threats," Dimitri says evenly.

"Adrian, shut up before he hurts you," I yell at him "because I am _not _going to pull him off you.

That got him to shut up, and it made Christian laugh.

**I think Kirova had forgotten he was there, but I hadn't. His presence was way too powerful to ignore. **

"What is that supposed to mean?" Viktoria asks me.

"You'll find out later," I say blushing—much to everyone's amusement.

**He still stood against the wall, looking like some sort of cowboy sentry in that ridiculous long coat of his. **

"It is not ridiculous, and I do not look like a cowboy," he says to me.

"Whatever _comrade_," I reply, and he rolls his eyes at me. There was a lot of that and glaring going on today. By the time we got to the end of the book someone might be dead.

**He looked at me, not Lissa, his dark eyes staring straight through me. "Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?"**

**I at least had the satisfaction of seeing Kirova caught off guard as she glanced between us and Dimitri.**

"You have no idea how good it felt to catch Kirova of guard," I say to him.

**"No…that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries."**

**"It's obvious," he said. "I suspected as soon as I started watching them."**

"Happy now Ivashkov? You have your answer." Dimitri says to Adrian.

"You could have elaborated," he replies smugly. Of course he had to find something wrong with it. Typical Adrian. Why can't he and Dimitri just get along? That was a stupid question I thought to myself. I'm the reason they can't get along. I mentally sigh as Dimitri begins to read again after exchanging a few more words with Adrian.

**Neither Lissa nor I responded, and I averted my eyes from his.**

**"That is a gift," murmured Victor from his corner. "A rare and wonderful thing"**

**"The best guardians always had that bond," added Dimitri. "In the stories."**

**Kirova's outrage returned. "Stories that are centuries old," she exclaimed. "Surely you aren't suggesting we let her stay at the Academy after everything she's done?"**

"Even after all that she still wanted to put you out?" Sonya asks.

I just nod my head.

**He shrugged. "She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she has potential—"**

**"Wild and disrespectful?" I interrupted. "Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?"**

"Ouch," I heard Christian say. "How did you two ever fall for each other?" he asks.

"Why would you say something like that and he was trying to keep you there," Janine exclaims.

"I'm Rose Hathaway. I don't take insults lightly."

My mom glares at me and Abe looks at me with pride.

**"Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," said Kirova. "Her **_**sanctioned **_**guardian."**

**"You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?"**

"Rose, did you ever apologize to Dimitri for that comment?" Lissa asks. "That was beyond a little harsh."

"Sorry Dimitri. We all know that you are a badass guardian, not _cheap foreign labor_," I say. "Happy now Liss?" I ask.

"Yep," she says with a smirk.

**That was pretty mean of me to say—particularly since most Moroi and their guardians were of Russian or Romanian descent—but the comment seemed cleverer at the time than it really was. **

"At least you admitted you were wrong," Dimitri says.

"Rose admits defeat and admits she's wrong all in one day! I must have died and gone to Heaven," Adrian shots.

"I'm sure that with all the drinking, smoking, and womanizing you do you would go to Hell," I say deflating his cheery mood.

**And it wasn't like I was one to talk. I might have been raised in the U.S., but my parents were foreign-born. My dhampir mother was Scottish—red-haired, with a ridiculous accent—and I'd been told my Moroi dad was Turkish. That genetic combination had given me skin the same color as the inside of an almond, along with what I liked to think were semi-exotic desert-princess features: big dark eyes and hair so deep brown that it usually looked black. I wouldn't have minded inheriting the red hair, but we take what we get.**

A smile crossed Janine's face when she heard this, and I almost fell out of my seat. I had no idea she was capable of that.

**Kirova threw her hands up in exasperation and turned to him. "You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and **_**very **_**raw potential in the world can't make up for that. A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian."**

"But yet I am one of the best," I say smugly.

**"So teach her discipline. Classes just started. Put her back in and get her training again."**

"Why were you so determined to get her to stay?" Adrian addressed Dimitri, but he just acts like he doesn't hear him and continues reading. He knows Adrian only wants to start something.

**"Impossible. She'll still be hopelessly behind her peers."**

**"No, I won't," I argued. No one listened to me.**

"Yes you were," Eddie states—much to my displeasure.

**"Then give her extra training sessions," he said.**

**They continued on while the rest of us watched the exchange like it was a Ping-Pong game. My pride was still hurt over the ease with which Dimitri had tricked us, but it occurred to me that he might very well keep me here with Lissa. Better to stay at this hellhole than be without her. **

"At least you have some sense," Janine says to me.

I was so tired of her smartass remarks that I decided to not even justify them with an answer anymore. I see where I inherited that from.

**Through our bond, I could feel her trickle of hope.**

**"Who's going to put in the extra time?" demanded Kirova. "You?"**

**Dimitri's argument came to an abrupt stop. "Well, that's not what I—"**

"He does have his limits," no one had to look up to know it was Adrian who had spoken.

"Adrian," I say seductively, and I can almost see him drooling. "If you do not stop insulting Dimitri I'm going to kick you ass for him," I finish.

"You can do _whatever _you like to me little dramphir," he says, and I saw Dimitri almost lose his control. Instead he shot Adrian another menacing glare, and he cowered into Sydney, who promptly got up and moved to sit across the room.

**Kirova crossed her arms with satisfaction. "Yes. That's what I thought."**

**Clearly at a loss, he frowned. His eyes flicked toward Lissa and me, and I wondered what he saw. Two pathetic girls, looking at him with big, pleading eyes? Or two runaways who'd broken out of a high-security school and swiped half of Lissa's inheritance?**

"A little bit of both," he said and continued reading.

**"Yes," he said finally. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones."**

"Wow Dimka, that was very generous of you," Viktoria says in a teasing tone.

Dimitri rolls his eyes at her and continues reading. I wonder what he was thinking right now.

**"And then what?" retorted Kirova angrily. "She goes unpunished?"**

**"Find some other way to punish her," answered Dimitri. "Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another. A girl, in particular."**

**His unspoken words made me shudder, reminding me of my earlier statement about "blood whores." Few dhampir girls became guardians anymore.**

"Which is why I let the academy raise you," Janine said.

"I understand that now," I say to her. We weren't close or anything, but we were closer than we had been, which is saying something since I had hated my mother once upon a time.

**Victor suddenly spoke up from his corner. "I'm inclined to agree with Guardian Belikov. Sending Rose away would be a shame, a waste of talent."**

"Waste of talent my ass," I say. "That is not why he wanted me to stay and you all know it.'

**Ms. Kirova stared out her window. It was completely black outside. With the Academy's nocturnal schedule, **_**morning **_**and **_**afternoon **_**were relative terms. That, and they kept the windows tinted to block out excess light.**

**When she turned back around, Lissa met her eyes. "Please, Ms. Kirova. Let Rose stay."**

**Oh, Lissa, I thought. **_**Be careful. **_

"Why would she need to be careful?" Jill asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," I answer her.

**Using compulsion on another Moroi was dangerous—particularly in front of witnesses. **

Now Jill understood what I had been talking about and Janine just looked taken aback, as did Alberta. She obviously hadn't noticed what Lissa was doing that day in Kirova's office. Dimitri didn't look so shocked.

**But Lissa was only using a tiny bit, and we needed all the help we could get. Fortunately, no one seemed to realize what was happening.**

**I don't even know if the compulsion made a difference, but finally, Kirova sighed.**

**"If Miss Hathaway stays, here's how it will be." **

"At least she let you stay," my mother says.

I give a curt nod as my reply.

**She turned to me. "Your continued enrollment at St. Vladimir's is strictly probationary. Step out of line **_**once, **_**and you're gone. You will attend all classes and required trainings for novices your age. You will also train with Guardian Belikov in every spare moment you have—before **_**and **_**after classes. Other than that, you are banned from all social activities, except meals, and will stay in your dorm. Fail to comply with any of this, and you will be sent…away."**

**I gave a harsh laugh. "Banned from all social activities? Are you trying to keep us apart?" I nodded toward Lissa. "Afraid we'll run away again?"**

"Rose," my mother exclaims for the 1000th time today. "She is being very generous. You should stop being rude and take the damn deal."

"Calm down," I say. "We all know I end up taking the deal."

**"I'm taking precautions. As I'm sure you recall, you were never properly punished for destroying school property. You have a lot to make up for." Her thin lips tightened into a straight line. "You are being offered a very generous deal. I suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it."**

"I'm inclined to agree with her," Janine says.

I roll my eyes again and ignore her.

**I started to say it wasn't generous at all, but then I caught Dimitri's gaze. It was hard to read. He might have been telling me he believed in me. He might have been telling me I was an idiot to keep fighting with Kirova. I didn't know.**

"What were you trying to tell me?" I ask him.

"That you were an idiot to keep fighting," he said trying to hide a smile.

**Looking away from him for the second time during the meeting, I stared at the floor, conscious of Lissa beside me and her own encouragement burning in our bond. At long last, I exhaled and glanced back up at the headmistress.**

**"Fine. I accept."**

"Finally," Janine says. "Was that the end of the chapter?" she asks Dimitri.

He nods his head yes.

"Who would like to read next?" he asks.

"I will," Janine says holding her hand out for the book.

Dimitri places the book in her hands and she begins to read, "Chapter three."

**That was the end of chapter two. I hope you like it. I will get started on chapter three as soon a possible. Please review it makes me want to update faster. **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed my last chapter, like I said before, all of your reviews are greatly appreciated. In addition to telling me what you think of my chapters, I would like for you to tell me who you want to read the lust spell chapter. You can send your opinion in the form of a review or send me a message personally.**

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I have been really busy. I'll try not to take this long again. **

**Disclaimer:**

**I, unfortunately, do not own **_**Vampire Academy **_**or any of the Characters in it. Richelle Mead is the genius who brought all this to life. She owns everything. **

"Chapter three," Janine read.

**SENDING US STRAIGHT TO CLASS after our meeting seemed beyond cruel, but that's exactly what Kirova did.**

Janine stopped reading and turned to her daughter. "You had been gone for two years when you should have been in class learning to become a guardian and you want to complain about being sent to class," she says. "You should have been there the entire time," she exclaimed getting louder.

"We had just gotten back. We could have at least used some rest," I yell right back at her. "We—I—was tired!"

"You don't have time to be tired in this job field," she screamed still getting louder.

I was not in the mood to continue arguing with her, which is very unlike Rose Hathaway—when do I ever _not_ want to argue. But I held true to my decision, and waved my hand at her dismissively, which only infuriated her more.

"How dare you—," she began.

"Janine calm down," Abe said trying to pacify her. "All of this is in the past. You might as well let it go. There's nothing you can do about it."

"Fine," she hissed and continued reading, but not before shooting me a glare.

**Lissa was led away, and I watched her go, glad the bond would allow me to keep reading her emotional temperature. **

**They actually sent me to one of the guidance counselors first. He was an ancient Moroi guy, one I remembered from before I'd left. I honestly couldn't believe he was still around. The guy was so freaking old, he should have retired. Or died.**

"You know Moroi live long lives," Lissa told me.

"Which means you have a long time to put up with me because I'm not going anywhere any time soon," Adrian added.

"You'll live a long life _if_ you die of natural causes," I say to him, "but if you keep antagonizing me and making comments like that you won't be around much longer."

Lissa and Jill stifled a giggle, but Christian laughed out loud, and I could see an amused look in Dimitri's eyes because his face betrayed nothing—it was a good thing I could read him so well. He was probably more amused at the mortified look on Adrian's face than at my comment though.

**The visit took all of five minutes. He said nothing about my return and asked a few questions about what classes I'd taken in Chicago and Portland. He compared those against my old file and hastily scrawled out a new schedule. I took it sullenly and headed out to my first class.**

**1stPeriod Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques**

**2ndPeriod Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection 3**

**3rdPeriod Weight Training and Conditioning**

**4thPeriod Senior Language Arts (Novices)**

—**Lunch—**

**5thPeriod Animal Behavior and Physiology**

**6thPeriod Pre-calculus**

**7thPeriod Moroi Culture 4**

**8thPeriod Slavic Art**

**Ugh. I'd forgotten how long the Academy's school day was. Novices and Moroi took separate classes during the first half of the day, which meant I wouldn't see Lissa until after lunch—if we had any afternoon classes together. Most of them were standard senior classes, so I felt my odds were pretty good. Slavic art struck me as the kind of elective no one signed up for, so hopefully they'd stuck her in there too.**

My guess had been right because Lissa and I had ended up having that class together. But Ralf and Jesse had too, much to my distaste.

**Dimitri and Alberta escorted me to the guardians' gym for first period, neither one acknowledging my existence. Walking behind them, I saw how Alberta wore her hair in a short, pixie cut that showed her promise mark and **_**molnija **_**marks. A lot of female guardians did this. It didn't matter so much for me now, since my neck had no tattoos yet, but I didn't want to ever cut my hair.**

"Now that you're a guardian, why haven't you cut it," Sydney asked.

"It's not mandatory, and a certain some one," I said, darting my eyes in Dimitri's direction, "advised me not to."

"I'm sure that certain someone," Sonya said trying to hide her laughter, "was my brother."

"Why didn't you want her to cut it Dimka?" Karolina asked.

Dimitri looked uncomfortable, probably because he didn't want to answer the question, or better yet, he didn't want them to know why he didn't want me to cut my hair, so I decided to come to his rescue.

"I'm sure we will read more about that later," I say to his sisters, and my mother continues reading.

**She and Dimitri didn't say anything and walked along almost like it was any other day. When we arrived, the reactions of my peers indicated it was anything but. They were in the middle of setting up when we entered the gym, and just like in the commons, all eyes fell on me. I couldn't decide if I felt like a rock star or a circus freak.**

"I'm leaning more towards circus freak," Christian interrupted.

"You'll be the circus freak when I'm done with you Ozera. You'll blend in more than you already do," I respond angrily.

"Nice comeback Rose," he said. "Sine you act like a circus freak and I'm going to look like one maybe they can morph us together and we can do some shows and make some quick cash."

"I don't think so. I'm way to pretty to share a body with you," I retort.

"Really?" he asked. "Huh, and here I always thought I was the better looking one."

I was about to jump across this room and rip Christian's throat out—at this point I didn't care that he was Lissa's boyfriend. If Adrian had been skating on thin ice then Christian must have been dangling in the air only being held up by a piece of thread because Adrian hadn't made me this mad.

"I though I was the good looking one," Adrian said fake hurt in his voice. "There is no way two circus freaks look better than me," he added with a devious smile.

Looks like I spoke too soon because I guess this was his way of getting back at me for my previous threat, and I was so pissed at Adrian and Christian I didn't know who to strike first.

"You two just lucked out," I say harshly. "I am not going to hurt you _yet_, but if you keep pushing my buttons then it is highly possible that we will never see either of you again. Are we clear?"

They nodded their heads unaffected by my threat. We'll see how unaffected they are when they're six feet under.

**All right, then. If I was going to be stuck here for a while, I wasn't going to act afraid of them all anymore. Lissa and I had once held this school's respect, and it was time to remind everyone of that.**

"I wouldn't go that far," Mia announced. "_You _didn't hold anyone's respect Rose. Everyone was just afraid of you. Lissa is the one the other students respected."

"I can attest to that," Eddie agrees.

"Whatever," I reply dismissing their comments.

**Scanning the staring, openmouthed novices, I looked for a familiar face. Most of them were guys. One caught my eye, and I could barely hold back my grin.**

"Why, because he was a guy or because you knew him?" Adrian asks.

"If I were you I would shut up before Rose decides to do some damage," Lissa advises him.

"If she does then I can just have you heal me."

"Oh no she won't," I say to him. "If I injure you I will make it my personal duty to keep Lissa from healing you."

"You're a guardian, isn't it your _duty _to keep Moroi safe, not inflict harm upon them?" Adrian asks.

"I'm a guardian and it is my _duty _to keep my _charge _safe, not some random, arrogant, Moroi."

I could see Adrian's mouth opening to shot an insult at me, but it was not his voice that broke the silence.

"Guardian Hathaway can you please continue reading. Rose and Mr. Ivashkov are done with their argument," Dimitri says.

Dimitri must have grown tired of hearing me and Adrian bicker or maybe he just wanted to diffuse the argument before someone—_I_—turned violent. Either way I was grateful to him. Mainly because I was tired of arguing with Adrian. He was really a thorn in my side.

"Sure," Janine says and continues to read.

**"Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you're going to think about me naked, do it on your own time."**

This was the first time Mason had been mentioned in this book and by the looks on most of my friend's faces I could tell they were all thinking about his tragic death. Even though he had been brutally murdered a while back I couldn't shake the sad feeling I got whenever someone mentioned him. It was probably because I still blamed myself for his murder although everyone tried to reinforce that it had not been my fault and that Mason had been responsible for his own decisions and actions, but as my mother continued to read I still had the feeling that his death had been all my fault.

**A few snorts and snickers broke the awed silence, and Mason Ashford snapped out of his haze, giving me a lopsided smile. With red hair that stuck up everywhere and a smattering of freckles, he was nice-looking, though not exactly hot. He was also one of the funniest guys I knew. We'd been good friends back in the day.**

"Back in the day? Exactly how old are you Rose?" Eddie joked trying to break the tension that had built up ever since we had mentioned Mason.

Eddie had been Mason's best friend and if he could lighten up and have some fun then I guess I could too, "Ha, ha, ha Castile very funny. And don't play dumb you know exactly how old I am."

**"This **_**is **_**my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session."**

"I guess it is a good time for him to think about you naked then," Christian joked.

And of course by Adrian being Adrian he had to voice his thoughts, "It's always a good time to think about Rose naked."

I wanted to curse Adrian out, beat him within an inch of his life, have Lissa heal him, and then kill him. I couldn't believe he would say something like that. Wait. I _can _actually believe he would say something like that, it was completely in his character. But I couldn't believe he would say something that like in front of Dimitri, and judging by the look on Dimitri's face he was not happy. Adrian noticed Dimitri's fury and decided it would be a good time for a smartass comment. Wrong idea.

"What's wrong Belikov," Adrian asks. "It's not like I haven't seen Rose naked before, she is my ex-girlfriend."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say because within seconds Dimitri was in front of Adrian holding him up by the shirt with his right hand in a fist. It reminded me of the night he had found me and Jesse in the lounge, he had done nearly the same thing and acted nearly the same way. Now that I thought about it I realized Dimitri hadn't only been mad that night, he had been… _jealous_, but I was jerked from my thoughts when Dimitri's fist nearly collided with Adrian's face. Luckily for Adrian's face Alberta had been there to stop Dimitri, and with that I made my way over to the other side of the room.

"Adrian you should really learn how to keep your mouth shut," I scold him. "If you have any smartass comments I advise you to keep them to yourself and don't let them come flying out of your mouth, or words won't be the only thing flying." And with that said I turned to Dimitri. "Are you going to be okay?" I ask him concerned.

"Yeah, but I'm not too sure how much more of Adrian's mouth I can take today."

"I agree with you on that one Dimitri," Christian says.

"We can all go home after this chapter and come back tomorrow and start fresh," Mia suggests.

"That is a really good idea," I say to Mia.

"You all don't have to go home," Lissa says. "You can stay at court. We have more than enough rooms to accommodate everyone."

"Thanks Liss," I say. It was times like these when I remembered that my best friend was Queen of the Moroi world.

"No problem," she says. "Guardian Hathaway, if you don't mind can you continue reading."

"Okay," my mom replies and begins to read.

**"Oh yeah?" I retorted. "Huh. Well, I guess this is a good time to think about me naked, then."**

**"It's **_**always **_**a good a time to think about you naked," added someone nearby, breaking the tension further. Eddie Castile. Another friend of mine.**

Mia shot a questioning look in Eddie's direction wondering if he liked me in any way. I don't think Eddie noticed it because he continued to look at my mom as she read. Although he hadn't noticed it I certainly had, and I made another mental note to make sure I made Mia and Eddie a couple.

**Dimitri shook his head and walked off, muttering something in Russian that didn't sound complimentary. **

"I'm curious Dimka, what did you say?" Karolina asks him.

"Yeah Dimitri, what did you say? I was wondering the same thing," I say.

"It was so long ago. I don't remember," he replied.

"You're lying," I say to him. "I've always been able to tell, but I'll let you slide this time."

In some part of my mind I could remember Dimitri telling _me _that—with the exception of the I'll let you slide this time part. However, I couldn't put my finger on exactly when he said it or even why he said it, so I let it go and listened to my mother as she read.

**But as for me…well, just like that, I was one of the novices again. They were an easygoing bunch, less focused on pedigree and politics than the Moroi students.**

"You've got that right," Mia mumbled under her breath.

**The class engulfed me, and I found myself laughing and seeing those I'd nearly forgotten about. Everyone wanted to know where we'd been; apparently Lissa and I had become legends. **

"I bet you did," Sydney said in a non-approving manner.

"I didn't know you even ran away from school," Viktoria said. "I still can't believe you two even got past the security. If anyone had done that at my school they would have definitely been worshiped if they ever returned."

Now it was Dimitri's turn to look disapproving. Olena just gave her youngest daughter an exasperated sigh. Yeva wasn't even paying much attention to what Viktoria had said, and Paul looked like he agreed with his aunt—much to Karolina and Sonya's displeasure.

**I couldn't tell them why we'd left, of course, so I offered up a lot of taunts and wouldn't-you-like-to-knows that served just as well.**

**The happy reunion lasted a few more minutes before the adult guardian who oversaw the training came over and scolded Mason for neglecting his duties. Still grinning, he barked out orders to everyone, explaining what exercises to start with. **

"Did you even know them?" my mother stopped to ask.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," I reply bitterly, which probably answered her question.

**Uneasily I realized I didn't know most of them.**

**"Come on, Hathaway," he said, taking my arm. "You can be my partner. Let's see what you've been doing all this time."**

"Nothing remotely related to training," I heard Lissa whisper to Christian across the room and I shot her a glare. She was supposed to be my best friend. She couldn't pick at me too. I was not standing for that. _It's not like is wasn't true_, she said through the bond, and I pretended like I hadn't received the message and Lissa rolled her eyes at my stubbornness. What can I say? I am the daughter of Abe Mazur and Janine Hathaway. Stubbornness is in my blood.

**An hour later, he had his answer.**

**"Not practicing, huh?"**

Christian chuckled at this, realizing Lissa hadn't been exaggerating.

**"Ow," I groaned, momentarily incapable of normal speech.**

"Rose Hathaway incapable of speech. I would have loved to have been there," Mia said.

"Oh, trust me. You will be soon enough," I say to her darkly.

"You know I meant at that moment, not when I decided to torture you," she says regretfully.

"I know," I say smirking at her.

**He extended a hand and helped me up from the mat he'd knocked me down on—about fifty times.**

"I wish I could do that to Belikov," Adrian muttered under his breath.

He was lucky Dimitri hadn't actually heard him, and why was Adrian so worked up. Unless he wasn't completely over me yet, and if that was the case he wasn't being fair to Sydney, and if he hurt her I swear I would kill him.

**"I hate you," I told him, rubbing a spot on my thigh that was going to have a wicked bruise tomorrow.**

"Is there anybody you don't hate?" Christian asked snarkily.

"Yeah," was my only response.

**"You'd hate me more if I held back."**

**"Yeah, that's true," I agreed, staggering along as the class put the equipment back.**

**"You actually did okay."**

"You just got your ass handed to you. What does he mean you did okay?" Christian exclaimed.

"Christian," I say, "You are working my nerves today. I am warning you to be quiet."

"Rose that is nothing new. I work your nerves everyday. It's what we do, and you know you love me harassing you as much as I like doing it, so be a woman about it and just take it."

I shot him a glare that he pointedly ignored.

**"What? I just had my ass handed to me."**

**"Well, of course you did. It's been two years. But hey, you're still walking. That's something." He grinned mockingly.**

**"Did I mention I hate you?"**

"Yeah, you did actually," Eddie said.

I was about ready to smack Eddie too.

**He flashed me another smile, which quickly faded to something more serious. "Don't take this the wrong way.…I mean, you really are a scrapper, but there's no way you'll be able to take your trials in the spring—"**

"Wanna bet," I say out loud, and everyone rolls there eyes at my cockiness.

**"They're making me take extra practice sessions," I explained. Not that it mattered. I planned on getting Lissa and me out of here before these practices really became an issue. **

"Wanna bet," Dimitri said mocking my earlier tone.

I wanted to hit him too, but I just ignored him. Everyone else in the room wore a smirk on their face.

**"I'll be ready."**

**"Extra sessions with who?"**

**"That tall guy. Dimitri."**

"Is that the only adjective you could come up with?" Lissa asked me.

"No." I reply, "but I think Mason would have been a little bit uncomfortable if I had decided to use words and phrases such as unbelievably sexy, hot, sexy Russian guy, Zeus's better looking younger brother…"

"Okay. I think we get the point," Adrian snapped.

"Are you jealous," Sydney asked Adrian emotionlessly.

"No. Just annoyed," he lied smoothly.

I don't think she bought it though. Boy was Adrian in for it when we all got to our rooms. I would have to borrow Christian later so we could go listen to their argument. I'm sure he would want to hear it as much as I would.

**Mason stopped walking and stared at me. "You're putting in extra time with Belikov?"**

**"Yeah, so what?"**

**"So the man is a **_**god."**_

"So that's where you got that from," Dimitri said to me with a small smile playing on his lips.

I didn't say anything, and I just looked around the room. I could see the pride radiating off of each of Dimitri's family members. Even though I had already told them everyone at the school considered him a god it made them ecstatic to hear it come from someone else.

**"Exaggerate much?" I asked.**

"He hadn't been exaggerating one bit," I say more to myself than to anyone else.

**"No, I'm serious. I mean, he's all quiet and antisocial usually, but when he fights…wow. **

"Antisocial?" Olena asks.

"Mom you know Dimka was always quiet and kept to himself," Karolina tells her mother.

"Then how in the hell did he end up with Rose," Christian blurted out. "She is the complete opposite. Most of the time you can't get her to shut up."

"Hey!" I exclaim. "I'm not completely loquacious."

"Yeah right," Christian says.

"I'm just a gregarious person."

**If you think you're hurting now, you're going to be dead when he's done with you."**

"That's high praise Belikov," Alberta says, "especially coming from a student."

**Great. Something else to improve my day.**

**I elbowed him and went on to second period. That class covered the essentials of being a bodyguard and was required for all seniors. Actually, it was the third in a series that had started junior year. **

"It looks like you are behind in yet another class," my mother says.

I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, "Yeah, it looks like it."

She was so shocked at the words coming out of my mouth that I thought she was going to pass out. Abe gave me a knowing smile telling me he knew what I was doing and he found it quite funny.

"Not many people can catch Janine off guard like that," he said moments later, amusement evident in his voice.

**That meant I was behind in this class too, but I hoped protecting Lissa in the real world had given me some insight.**

**Our instructor was Stan Alto, whom we referred to simply as "Stan" behind his back and "Guardian Alto" in formal settings. **

"I hate that bastard," I say out loud.

"So do I," Eddie said agreeing with me.

"He couldn't have been that bad," Viktoria says.

"Just wait and see," I tell her. "You'll hate him almost as much as I do and you haven't even met him."

"Rose, could you please not talk about my colleague in front of me?" Alberta asks.

"Oh, sorry Alberta."

She ignored the fact that I had called her by her first name, probably because we were both guardians now and I was no longer her student.

**He was a little older than Dimitri, but not nearly as tall, and he always looked pissed off. Today, that look intensified when he walked into the classroom and saw me sitting there. His eyes widened in mock surprise as he circled the room and came to stand beside my desk.**

**"What's this? No one told me we had a guest speaker here today. Rose Hathaway. What a privilege! How very **_**generous **_**of you to take time out of your busy schedule and share your knowledge with us."**

"Okay he really is a bastard," Viktoria says and I smile at her.

"You haven't seen anything yet," I tell her, and Dimitri rolls his eyes at my comment.

**I felt my cheeks burning, but in a great show of self-control, I stopped myself from telling him to fuck off. **

"You have self-control? I had no idea," Christian says.

"I have _some_, not much, and you are really testing it right now," I say to him.

**I'm pretty sure my face must have delivered that message, however, because his sneer increased. He gestured for me to stand up.**

**"Well, come on, come on. Don't sit there! Come up to the front so you can help me lecture the class."**

"Now that's the teacher you should have called a fascist bastard," Abe says, much to my liking.

Janine shoots him a look, and he gives her an innocent look that says he hasn't done anything wrong. She just rolls her eyes, shakes her head, and continues reading. Now that I think about it, their relationship isn't much different from mine and Dimitri's. My mother is the calm one, like Dimitri, and my dad is well…like…me.

**I sank into my seat. "You don't really mean—"**

**The taunting smile dried up. "I mean **_**exactly **_**what I say, Hathaway. Go to the front of the class."**

"Bastard," I say again under my breath.

**A thick silence enveloped the room. Stan was a scary instructor, and most of the class was too awed to laugh at my disgrace quite yet. Refusing to crack, I strode up to the front of the room and turned to face the class. I gave them a bold look and tossed my hair over my shoulders, earning a few sympathetic smiles from my friends. I then noticed I had a larger audience than expected. A few guardians—including Dimitri—lingered in the back of the room. Outside the Academy, guardians focused on one-on-one protection. Here, guardians had a lot more people to protect **_**and **_**they had to train the novices. So rather than follow any one person around, they worked shifts guarding the school as a whole and monitoring classes.**

"Did you have to be there to watch my humiliation?" I ask Dimitri.

"I was assigned to watch Guardian Alto's classroom," he responded with a lack of emotion.

"I wish you hadn't seen that," I mutter under my breath, but he still heard me because he shot me a sympathetic smile.

**"So, Hathaway," said Stan cheerfully, strolling back up to the front with me. "Enlighten us about your protective techniques."**

**"My…techniques?"**

**"Of course. Because presumably you must have had some sort of plan the rest of us couldn't understand when you took an underage Moroi royal out of the Academy and exposed her to constant Strigoi threats."**

"Haven't you already been lectured about how irresponsible your actions were?" Jill asks.

"Yep, but Stan didn't care. He wanted his opportunity to humiliate me. He hated me as much as I hated him."

"That can't be true. He was a teacher he wouldn't hate one of his students," Olena says.

"Oh, he_ definitely_ hated her," Dimitri says to his mother. "I witnessed countless arguments between the two."

**It was the Kirova lecture all over again, except with more witnesses.**

**"We never ran into any Strigoi," I replied stiffly.**

**"Obviously," he said with a snicker. "I already figured that out, seeing as how you're still alive."**

"Now that was harsh," Adrian said.

I was kind of shocked to hear his voice. He hadn't spoken out loud recently. Too bad he hadn't kept it that way.

**I wanted to shout that maybe I could have defeated a Strigoi, but after getting beat up in the last class, I now suspected I couldn't have survived an attack by Mason, let alone an actual Strigoi.**

"That's not true and you know it Rose," Mia says. "In less than, I think, three months time you killed your first _two_ Strigoi."

I just smile at Mia and her attempt to cheer me up.

**When I didn't say anything, Stan started pacing in front of the class.**

**"So what'd you do? How'd you make sure she stayed safe? Did you avoid going out at night?"**

**"Sometimes." That was true—especially when we'd first run away. We'd relaxed a little after months went by with no attacks.**

"You should have never let down your guard," Janine informs me before continuing her reading.

**"Sometimes," he repeated in a high-pitched voice, making my answer sound incredibly stupid. "Well then, I suppose you slept during the day and stayed on guard at night."**

"I'm about ready to smack him," Viktoria says.

"Me too," Christian chimes in. "Only I pick at Rose that way. That bastard is depriving me of a job."

**"Er…no."**

**"No? But that's one of the first things mentioned in the chapter on solo guarding. Oh wait, you wouldn't know that because **_**you weren't here."**_

"Is he still alive? If he is I could always go break a knee cap or two," Abe says.

"Yes, and your services will not be needed Zemey," I say to my father.

**I swallowed back more swear words. "I watched the area whenever we went out," I said, needing to defend myself.**

**"Oh? Well that's something. Did you use Carnegie's Quadrant Surveillance Method or the Rotational Survey?"**

**I didn't say anything.**

"You should have just picked one," Eddie says to me.

"I wish I had."

**"Ah. I'm guessing you used the Hathaway Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To Method."**

"He can't talk to you like that," Lissa exclaims.

"Actually Liss, he can. It was his class, his classroom, and his time. He could do whatever he wanted," I tell my best friend.

Everyone in the room looked shocked at my revelation. I sulked into my chair and waited for my mother to continue reading, rather than address them.

**"No!" I exclaimed angrily. "That's not true. I watched her. She's still alive, isn't she?"**

**He walked back up to me and leaned toward my face." Because you got **_**lucky."**_

"Lucky my ass," I say. "There isn't that much luck in the world."

**"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there," I shot back. "It's not like what we've been taught. It's safer than you guys make it sound."**

**"Safer? **_**Safer? **_**We are at war with the Strigoi!" he yelled. I could smell coffee on his breath, he was so close. "One of them could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before you even noticed him—and he'd barely break a sweat doing it. **

"I doubt that," I say. "I would sense it before it could get within five feet of me."

**You might have more speed and strength than a Moroi or a human, but you are nothing, **_**nothing, **_**compared to a Strigoi. They are deadly, and they are powerful. **

"He makes them sound great," Mia says.

**And do you know what makes them more powerful?"**

**No way was I going to let this jerk make me cry. Looking away from him, I tried to focus on something else. My eyes rested on Dimitri and the other guardians. They were watching my humiliation, stone-faced.**

"What did you expect us to be doing?" he asked me.

"It was just an observation," I told him. "Mom you can keep reading."

**"Moroi blood," I whispered.**

**"What was that?" asked Stan loudly. "I didn't catch it."**

**I spun back around to face him. "Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger."**

"That is where you should have punched that bastard in the face," Abe says to me and I smile.

"Ibrahim," my mother shouts.

"What?" he asks her dubiously.

"Mom calm down. It was just a suggestion. It's not like I can actually do it now. That part of my life has already come and gone," I say trying to appease her. "Now, can you continue reading?"

**He nodded in satisfaction and took a few steps back. "Yes. It does. It makes them stronger and harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or dhampir, but they want Moroi blood more than anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the dark side to gain immortality, and they want to do whatever they can to keep that immortality. **

Christian flinched at that comment, no doubt thinking about his parents.

**Desperate Strigoi have attacked Moroi in public. Groups of Strigoi have raided academies exactly like this one. **

"That was some heavy foreshadowing," Adrian says.

**There are Strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of Moroi. They're almost impossible to kill. And **_**that **_**is why Moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough—even with guardians— to protect themselves. **

"Because they are too damn selfish to get out there and help their guardians defend them. They want to sit back and be protected while the guardians go risk their lives to save their lazy asses," Tasha nearly shouts.

Everyone in the room nods their head in accordance to her statement.

**Some Moroi don't even see the point of running anymore and are simply turning Strigoi by choice. **

Christian flinched again. This is exactly what his parents had done.

**And as the Moroi disappear…"**

**"…so do the dhampirs," I finished.**

**"Well," he said, licking sprayed spit off his lips. **

"Ewwww," Lissa, Mia, Jill, and Viktoria say together.

**"It looks like you learned something after all. Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field experience next semester."**

"Oh, I definitely qualified," I say, "and passed his dumbass class."

**Ouch. I spent the rest of that horrible class—in my seat, thankfully—replaying those last words in my mind. The senior-year field experience was the best part of a novice's education. We'd have no classes for half a semester. **

"That sounds great," Sydney says. "I wish they would have done that at my high school," she finishes sarcastically.

**Instead, we'd each be assigned a Moroi student to guard and follow around. The adult guardians would monitor us and test us with staged attacks and other threats. How a novice passed that field experience was almost as important as all the rest of her grades combined. It could influence which Moroi she got assigned to after graduation.**

**And me? There was only one Moroi I wanted.**

"And who might that be?" Lissa asked jokingly.

"You already know who," I say playing along.

"Oh, and here I was thinking you wanted to guard me," she said pretending to be hurt.

"You know you are the only Moroi I want to guard," I say to her.

"I know," she says smiling.

**Two classes later, I finally earned my lunch escape. As I stumbled across campus toward the commons, Dimitri fell into step beside me, not looking particularly godlike—unless you counted his godly good looks.**

Adrian looked about ready to choke, but Dimitri was visibly trying to hide a smile. I blushed as I repeated the statement in my head.

**"I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" I asked, not bothering with titles.**

"When do you ever," Eddie asks me seriously.

I just shrug my shoulders and tell my mother to keep reading.

**"Yes."**

**"And you don't think that was unfair?"**

**"Was he right? Do you think you were fully prepared to protect Vasilisa?"**

"You could have been a little bit more supportive," I say to him.

"I was there to mentor you, not consol and comfort you."

"But yet somehow, somewhere down the road you ended up becoming boyfriend," Adrian said bitterly.

Dimitri just ignored Adrian's comment and asked my mother to continue reading. Adrian was really pissing him off—_again_. He was really good at that, and sometimes I even thought _that _was what he specialized in, not spirit—since he was so damn good at it.

**I looked down at the ground. "I kept her alive," I mumbled.**

**"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?"**

"That was a mean question," Lissa said.

"Yes, it was, but it was also necessary," he told her.

**The question was mean. I didn't answer and knew I didn't need to. I'd had another training class after Stan's, and no doubt Dimitri had watched me get beat up there too.**

**"If you can't fight **_**them **_**—"**

**"Yeah, yeah, I know," I snapped.**

**He slowed his long stride to match my pain-filled one. "You're strong and fast by nature. You just need to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play any sports while you were gone?"**

"No," Lissa said for me.

Thanks Liss I thought to myself.

**"Sure," I shrugged. "Now and then."**

**"You didn't join any teams?"**

**"Too much work. If I'd wanted to practice that much, I'd have stayed here."**

**He gave me an exasperated look. "You'll never be able to really protect the princess if you don't hone your skills. You'll always be lacking."**

"Don't you think you are being a little bit hard on her Dimka?" Sonya asks her brother.

"Yes, but she needed to hear it nonetheless," he replies.

**"I'll be able to protect her," I said fiercely.**

"Because you took my advice," Dimitri says.

"Yeah, thanks comrade."

He winces at the nickname. Huh, serves him right.

**"You have no guarantees of being assigned to her, you know—for your field experience **_**or **_**after you graduate." **

"Now _that_ was some heavy foreshadowing," Eddie says echoing Adrian's earlier comment.

**Dimitri's voice was low and unapologetic. They hadn't given me a warm and fuzzy mentor.**

**"No one wants to waste the bond— but no one's going to give her an inadequate guardian either. If you want to be with her, then you need to work for it. You have your lessons. You have me. Use us or don't. You're an ideal choice to guard Vasilisa when you both graduate—if you can prove you're worthy. I hope you will."**

"That was the first nice thing you said to me throughout that entire conversation," I say to him.

He doesn't acknowledge my comment. Typical Dimitri, I thought to myself.

**"Lissa, call her Lissa," I corrected. She hated her full name, much preferring the Americanized nickname.**

**He walked away, and suddenly, I didn't feel like such a badass anymore.**

"I bet you didn't," I heard Christian say, but I ignored him.

**By now, I'd burned up a lot of time leaving class. Most everyone else had long since sprinted inside the commons for lunch, eager to maximize their social time. I'd almost made it back there myself when a voice under the door's overhang called to me.**

**"Rose?"**

**Peering in the voice's direction, I caught sight of Victor Dashkov, his kind face smiling at me as he leaned on a cane near the building's wall. **

"Kind face," I snorted. "Yeah right. I still can't believe I was that damn stupid."

**His two guardians stood nearby at a polite distance.**

**"Mr. Dash—er, Your Highness. Hi."**

**I caught myself just in time, having nearly forgotten Moroi royal terms. I hadn't used them while living among humans. The Moroi chose their rulers from among twelve royal families. The eldest in the family got the title of "prince" or "princess." Lissa had gotten hers because she was the only one left in her line.**

Lissa winced at this comment, but then she was brought out of her depressed mood when she looked around the room and her eyes fell upon Jill. She wasn't he only one left. She had a sibling. A half sister.

**"How was your first day?" he asked.**

"Like he really cared how my day went. He just wanted to get information out of me," I exclaim.

"Why do you hate that man so much?" Sydney asks.

"You'll find out soon enough," I tell her.

**"Not over yet." I tried to think of something conversational. "Are you visiting here for a while?"**

"I wish I hadn't and I had just walked away when I had the chance."

**"I'll be leaving this afternoon after I say hello to Natalie. When I heard Vasilisa—and you—had returned, I simply had to come see you."**

**I nodded, not sure what else to say. He was more Lissa's friend than mine.**

"He's no friend of mine," Lissa interrupted.

**"I wanted to tell you…" He spoke hesitantly. "I understand the gravity of what you did, but I think Headmistress Kirova failed to acknowledge something. You **_**did **_**keep Vasilisa safe all this time. That is impressive."**

**"Well, it's not like I faced down Strigoi or anything," I said.**

**"But you faced down some things?"**

Abe was the next to have an outburst, "How the hell did he know that?"

**"Sure. The school sent psi-hounds once."**

"No the _school _didn't," Dimitri said.

"I bet I can guess who did," Abe said angrily.

**"Remarkable."**

**"Not really. Avoiding them was pretty easy."**

"Avoiding a psi-hound can't be easy," Mikhail says.

I just shrug my shoulders.

"Wow Rose you are really cool. I want to be just like you when I grow up," Paul says to me.

**He laughed. "I've hunted with them before. They aren't **_**that **_**easy to evade, not with their powers and intelligence." It was true. Psi-hounds were one of many types of magical creatures that wandered the world, creatures that humans never knew about or else didn't believe they'd really seen. The hounds traveled in packs and shared a sort of psychic communication that made them particularly deadly to their prey—as did the fact that they resembled mutant wolves. "Did you face anything else?"**

"Why is that creep so interested?" Mia asks.

"Who knows why Victor does what her does," I reply.

**I shrugged. "Little things here and there."**

**"Remarkable," he repeated.**

**"Lucky, I think. It turns out I'm really behind in all this guardian stuff." I sounded just like Stan now.**

"I was just about to say that," Christian remarked.

**"You're a smart girl. You'll catch up. And you also have your bond."**

"So that's what he was trying to get at," Abe says to no one in particular.

**I looked away. My ability to "feel" Lissa had been such a secret for so long, it felt weird to have others know about it.**

**"The histories are full of stories of guardians who could feel when their charges were in danger," Victor continued.**

**"I've made a hobby of studying up on it and some of the ancient ways. I've heard it's a tremendous asset."**

"To hell with that. What did he need to study up on it for when he had a brother that was a spirit user," I yell out incredulously.

That shocked everyone in the room except Abe, Eddie, Christian, Adrian, and Lissa—and myself of course since I am the brilliant one who announced it to everyone.

"How," Janine says, "did you find that out?"

"I um kind of came across that information during my escapade in Russia." Before anyone could asks me anymore questions I added, "I'm sure we will read more about that in one of the other books."

**"I guess." I shrugged. **_**What a boring hobby, **_**I thought, imagining him poring over prehistoric histories in some dank library covered in spider webs.**

**Victor tilted his head, curiosity all over his face. Kirova and the others had had the same look when we'd mentioned our connection, like we were lab rats. "What is it like—if you don't mind me asking?"**

"You shouldn't have told him," Christian says shaking in his seat, and I would bet money he was remembering what Victor had done to him and Lissa. They didn't know too much about what he had done to me _and _Dimitri.

"Hind sight is 20/20," is my only response to him.

**"It's…I don't know. I just sort of always have this hum of how she feels. Usually it's just emotions. We can't send messages or anything." I didn't tell him about slipping into her head. That part of it was hard even for me to understand.**

**"But it doesn't work the other way? She doesn't sense you?"**

"That was probably the information he was looking for," Dimitri said.

**I shook my head.**

**His face shone with wonder. "How did it happen?"**

"It must have been," I reply to Dimitri's earlier comment, "because he already knew how that happened. He was just fucking with me," I say.

**"I don't know," I said, still glancing away. "Just started two years ago."**

**He frowned. "Near the time of the accident?"**

"He just answered his own question," Lissa yells.

"Yeah, he did." I say astonished. This was the first time I had actually noticed that.

**Hesitantly, I nodded. The accident was **_**not **_**something I wanted to talk about, that was for sure. Lissa's memories were bad enough without my own mixing into them. Twisted metal. A sensation of hot, then cold, then hot again. **

"That was you healing me," I told her.

"Really?" she asks.

"Yep."

**Lissa screaming over me, screaming for me to wake up, screaming for her parents and her brother to wake up. None of them had, only me.**

"That must be really hard on you. I can't imagine losing my parents," Sydney says. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Lissa tells her. "But thank you anyway, and Jill I'm sorry you never got to know our father."

"Yeah, me too," she says sadly.

"Aw, Jailbait, it's alright you have all of us now," Adrian tells her. He did always treat her like a little sister. All of us did actually, even Christian. He even taught her how to use her magic offensively.

**And the doctors said that was a miracle in itself. They said I shouldn't have survived.**

**Apparently sensing my discomfort, Victor let the moment go and returned to his earlier excitement.**

"More like he realized his job was done, and you had nothing else useful to offer him," Abe says darkly, probably wishing he could break Victor's knee caps.

**"I can still barely believe this. It's been so long since this has happened. If it did happen more often…just think what it could do for the safety of all Moroi. If only others could experience this too. I'll have to do more research and see if we can replicate it with others."**

"That bastard just wanted to do more research so he could figure out how to use me as a lab rat," Lissa hissed.

"Liss, calm down," Christian says to her, showing his soft side for the second time today.

She calmed down after she took a few deep breaths.

**"Yeah." I was getting impatient, despite how much I liked him. Natalie rambled a lot, and it was pretty clear which parent she'd inherited **_**that **_**quality from. Lunch was ticking down, and although Moroi and novices shared afternoon classes, Lissa and I wouldn't have much time to talk.**

"That was the point," Dimitri said.

**"Perhaps we could—" He started coughing, a great, seizing fit that made his whole body shake. His disease, Sandovsky's Syndrome, took the lungs down with it while dragging the body toward death. I cast an anxious look at his guardians, and one of them stepped forward. "Your Highness," he said politely, "you need to go inside. It's too cold out here."**

"He should have taken his ass in earlier," I say under my breath, and Dimitri chokes on a laugh.

"Dimitri, are you okay?" Lissa asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says. "Rose just said something very amusing."

"Care to tell us what it was little dhampir?" Adrian asks.

"No, I don't. Mom you can continue reading."

**Victor nodded. "Yes, yes. And I'm sure Rose here wants to eat." He turned to me. "Thank you for speaking to me. I can't emphasize how much it means to me that Vasilisa is safe— and that you helped with that. **

"I bet he's happy alright," Christians growls.

**I'd promised her father I'd look after her if anything happened to him, and I felt like quite the failure when you left."**

"I bet he did," Lissa said reiterating Christian's previous comment.

**A sinking sensation filled my stomach as I imagined him wracked with guilt and worry over our disappearance. Until now, I hadn't really thought about how others might have felt about us leaving.**

**We made our goodbyes, and I finally arrived inside the school. As I did, I felt Lissa's anxiety spike. Ignoring the pain in my legs, I picked up my pace into the commons.**

**And nearly ran right into her.**

"What was going on?" Adrian asked.

"You would know by now if you hadn't interrupted," I snap.

**She didn't see me, though. Neither did the people standing with her: Aaron and that little doll girl. I stopped and listened, just catching the end of the conversation. The girl leaned toward Lissa, who seemed more stunned than anything else.**

**"It looks to **_**me **_**like it came from a garage sale. I thought a precious Dragomir would have standards." Scorn dripped off the word **_**Dragomir.**_

"Sorry Lissa," Mia whispers, she couldn't believe how bitchy she had been towards us.

"I know Mia, and you have nothing to be sorry about. I know you were hurt and you just wanted revenge."

"Hurt about what?" Eddie inquired.

"You'll find out later Eddie," I say to him.

**Grabbing Doll Girl by the shoulder, I jerked her away. She was so light, she stumbled three feet and nearly fell.**

"Can you please not call me that," she asks me.

"Sorry Mia, no can do."

She just glared at me, but of course it had no effect on me.

**"She does have standards," I said, "which** **is why you're done talking to her."**

"Ouch," I heard all the females in the room say. Dimitri just shook his head.

"That was the end of chapter three," Janine says.

"Well, I guess we can decide who gets to read when we get back in here tomorrow," Lissa says. "You all can stay in guest housing. It is not too far from here. If there is anything you need please do not hesitate to ask," she says. "I'll see you all tomorrow. Come on Christian."

"Bye," he says to all of us before following Lissa out. Who would have guessed, Christian was Lissa's little bitch. I was so going to give him hell about this tomorrow.

"Rose, are you ready to go?" Dimitri asks me.

"Yeah. Bye mom, Abe, Viktoria, Karolina, Sonya, Olena, Yeva, Paul, Eddie, Mia, Mikhail, Alberta, Jill, Adrian, Sydney, and Tasha. I'll see you all tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night Rose, Good night Dimitri," they all say in unison. Then Dimitri and I leave and head to guest housing.

**That was chapter three. I hope you all liked it. Sorry it took so long to post, and I apologize for any grammatical errors there may have been in this chapter. I re-read the last chapter and I found some errors and I think I almost died. I hate reading things that are grammatically incorrect, so I hate to give you guys something that is flawed. **

**Please review. R&R. I'll try to have chapter four up soon, but reviews do make me want to post sooner. Adrian and Sydney's argument will occur in the next chapter and Rose and Christian are going to hear the entire thing. **

**Be sure to tell me who you think should read the lust charm chapter. **

**And if you don't mind can you advise other people to read my fanfic. I would love to receive more reviews. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed my last chapter. Please continue to review and encourage others to read my story. **

**Sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter up. For my lack of updating I decided to give you an extra long chapter. Hope you enjoy. R&R. **

"Rose, what are you doing," Dimitri asks me.

He was sitting on the right side of the bed. We were in guest housing courtesy of my best friend Queen Vasilisa Dragomir, or as she likes to be called Lissa. The room was extravagant, but not as cozy as my house. The only really good part about this room besides the enormous bed, soft carpet, and lavish bathroom was Dimitri. And he looked really sexy right now, or maybe that was just because he was sitting on the bed. I would have to take advantage of that as soon as I returned to our room, but right now I had a mission to accomplish, or rather Christian and I had a mission to accomplish although he doesn't know about it yet.

"Rose? Did you hear me, the—,"

"Yeah, Dimitri I heard you," I say to him, then under my breath I add, "I thought if I didn't answer you would think I wasn't up to anything." By the look on his face I can tell he heard what I said. Damn it.

"Ididn't think you were up to anything," he says letting me know he heard what I said. Dam it, I mentally curse myself again. "_You _said you were up to something. I was just wondering what you were doing, but now that you have brought it up I would like to know what you are up to."

"Nothing comrade. Can't a girl just sit in front of a desk and think?"

"Yes, a girl can, but you can't. You and thinking in the same breath means trouble for someone. Rose, what are you up to?"

Damn it, I thought again. He was on to me now. I could not let him know what I was doing. I had to think of a good lie and—then it hit me.

"I was just trying to figure out what you said in Russian after the conversation Mason and I had before class started," I said to him with a curious look on my face. I hoped he would buy this lie, and by the look on his face he did—or at least that's what I thought. "And don't give me some bullshit about how you don't remember because I know you remember what you said."

"Fine Rose. Would you really like to know what I said?"

"Uh, duh, did I not just ask?"

"I said something about how I didn't sign up to mentor some promiscuous, disrespectful, sluty, teenage girl who can't refrain from throwing herself at any and every guy in sight. Now if you don't mind would you tell me what you are up to?" he finished dismissively, like he hadn't just called me a slut.

And my jaw almost hit the ground. I can't believe _Dimitri _just called me a slut. How dare he?

"How dare you call me a slut!"

"Rose, calm down. I didn't know anything about you at the time, and answer this. If you were in my shoes and you heard a girl make the comment you made to a guy in her class, would you not think the same thing, if you knew nothing about that person or her character?"

As much as I hated to admit it, Dimitri did actually have a point, but I was not about to let him know that I agreed with him—_that _was not in my character, plus I had things to do.

"I'm still not too happy with that comment, but we can talk about that later. Right now I need to go see Lissa."

Dimitri nodded his head, but he had a suspicious look on his face. Oh, great, the last thing I need is for him to still think I'm up to something.

"Comrade, I'm not up to anything. I just need to go see Lissa."

"Sure you do," he replies dryly.

"What's that supposed to mean," I exclaim. "You know what I don't have time for this. I need to go see _Lissa_," I say over emphasizing her name, probably making me look more suspicious.

With that I walked out of the room and across Court to Lissa and Christian's room. Hopefully my little altercation with Dimitri hadn't made me miss anything, I thought as I knocked on their door.

"Hey, Rose," Lissa said surprised as she opened the door.

"Hey, Liss. Is Christian here, I need to borrow him for a little while."

"Yeah, but what do you need Christian for?" she asks, and by the feelings coming from the bond I can tell she is a little hurt that there is something Christian can help me with that she can't or that I don't trust her enough to help.

"Liss," I say trying to soothe her, "I don't need Christian to do anything for me. It's just something I am going to do that I know he would hate to miss out on."

"Sure," she says still a little hurt. "Christian," she calls.

"Yeah Liss," he says walking up behind her.

"Rose would like to borrow you for a little while."

"Really. What for?" he asks, also suspicious of me.

I was growing really tired of this suspicion thing.

"For all I know you could be taking me out to my 'big rock' under the sun."

That is actually a good idea. Too bad that's not what I had in mind. I might have to store that idea in the back of my mind for later use. I might even have to find a second rock because at the rate Adrian is going he's going to be joining Christian.

"Christian, if I did that it would hurt Lissa, so no, I am not taking you to your rock. I want you to come with me. There is something I am going to do, and I know you would hate to miss out on it, but if you don't hurry your ass up we are going to miss it. I will explain on the way."

"Fine," he says to me and gives Lissa a kiss before he follows me out the door.

When we have trekked a few yards from Christian and Lissa's place he asks, "Rose, what are we up to?"

"Something you will approve of."

"And what might that be? If you don't mind me asking."

"You remember how mad Sydney was at Adrian earlier don't you?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Use your brain Christian."

He didn't say anything, and he had a blank look on his face. Maybe I should wait a few seconds to see if he gets it, and if not just tell him what we are going to do. By the time I finished my thought I saw understanding light up his face.

"Rose, you are a genius. I can't believe I didn't think of it first, but wait. Do you even know where their room is? If we are going to spy on their argument then we have to know where to go."

"I've got that covered. Their room is at the very end of my hall," I say, and thank goodness it was. It was close enough to my room to make a quick get away if necessary, but also far enough so that Dimitri wouldn't see us if he decided to look out the door. It was absolutely perfect.

When we finally arrived in front of Sydney and Adrian's room it was eerily quiet. Like the calm before the storm. Looks like we got here just in time.

"You stand on that side of the door and I will stand on this side. Press yourself against the wall so no one will see you," I whisper to Christian, and he nods his head and complies with my orders.

We stood like that for about ten minutes before we heard any type of communication going on in the room. It was Adrian who spoke first.

"Good night Syd," he said.

If he thought he was going to get off that easy then he had another thing coming. He openly flirted with another girl, his girlfriend's friend no less, in front of her and he expects to just go to sleep like nothing happened. If I was Sydney I would kick his ass all the way to Hell and back.

"Adrian?" she asks, and I can hear the malice in her voice—he was really in trouble because that was unlike Sydney. I think Christian heard the malice in her voice too because he is grinning from ear to ear like a kid in a candy store. Adrian, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the tone in which she referred to him with.

"Yes," he replies seductively.

That idiot must think Sydney wants to have sex; boy is he in for a rude awakening. Plus Sydney is a religious nut, she probably believes in celibacy. There is no way Adrian would be able to lay a finger on her unless he met her at the alter.

"How do you really feel about me, and do you care about me at all?" she asks him.

Wow she isn't beating around the bush; she skipped straight to the point.

"Why would you ask something like that? Of course I care about you, and as for the first question. I think I might even be falling in love with you."

"Oh, really," she replies, "so you _claim _you are falling in love with me, but yet every chance you got today you were hitting on Rose. You couldn't keep your eyes off her. You couldn't refrain from making sexually explicit comments towards her. You were so busy flirting with a girl who showed you no interest that you didn't even remember the fact that you have a girlfriend who you are supposedly 'falling in love' with sitting in the room watching. And you say you care about me. Ha, don't make me laugh; I'll believe that one when I see it."

"Sydney you aren't jealous are you? I mean, yeah, Rose is nice to look at, but you are my girlfriend, and you are the one I'm with. You don't have to worry about her. And yes I do care about you, and I really am falling in love with you," he says to her, and then he defensively adds, "and I was not staring at her _every _chance I got. Like I said she's nice to look at. I mean you've seen her body. You have to admit she looks good, and she was flirting back a little bit, not much, but you are the only girl for me Sydney. I don't want Rose; I just like to look at her."

Dumb ass, I thought to myself. If Dimitri had said some shit like that to me the bed would have become our sparring mat because I would be kicking his ass right now. How dare he admit to his girlfriend that he was looking at another girl _and_ that he thinks she has a nice body. And on top of all of that he said I flirted back—which I did not, unless you count threatening to take someone's life numerous times flirting. Telling your girlfriend something like that is like a verbal slap in the face. At this rate _I _won't have to dig Adrian's grave. This was getting more interesting by the minute.

"Excuse me!" Sydney shouts at him.

"Wait. What did I say? I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—,"

"How dare you _admit _to checking out another girl!"

_Jackass, _I heard Christian snicker under his breath.

"I w-w-was-wasn't checking her o-o-ou-out. I was j-j-just taking in the, uh, beauty of her body. Yeah, that's it. You know I did study art when I was in college."

"Dumb ass," Christian and I said at the same time. "It would have been a convincing lie if he h-ha-had-hadn't s-s-stu-stuttered and said uh," I half whisper half laugh. Christian laughed at this too, and I had to cover his mouth because I heard a door open down the hall. Hopefully that wasn't Dimitri, and hopefully whoever it was hadn't heard Christian burst out in laughter. After a few seconds of nothing significant happening I looked at Christian and mouthed shush. He rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet anyway.

"How dumb do you think I am Adrian?"

"Not very," he said trying to appease her. Wrong answer. He just dug himself an even bigger hole. He just implied that his girlfriend was a little dumb. Not the best thing to say to her, especially during an argument.

"Oh, great Adrian, not only do you think another girl is hot, but you openly flirted with her, _and _you just implied that I'm dumb. Anything else you would like for me to know that I already don't, or better yet did I miss anything?"

"No," he said in a small voice. He just couldn't win, but he could at least attempt to put up a better fight though. His lack of enthusiasm was not doing him any favors.

"What do you mean, no. No you aren't keeping something else from me or no I didn't miss anything? And would it kill you to show a little more emotion. Your _girlfriend _is arguing with you and you don't have anything to say, or is that just another word to you that doesn't have any special meaning?"

"Now you are being completely unfair Sydney!" Adrian shouts. "Everything I say you twist it around to use it against me!"

"How dare you raise your voice at me!" she shouts back at him.

"You just said I need to show more emotion, and when I do you yell at me for it. Sydney make up your mind. Do you or don't you want me to show emotion. I just can't win here. No matter what I do and no matter what I say it's not enough for you or it's over the line!"

"Adrian don't you dare try to turn this around on me. _You _are the one that did wrong today, and now you want to find fault in what I do so you can take the attention away from yourself. I'm telling you now that it's not going to work. If you like Rose so much why don't you go be with her? Oh, because she doesn't want you. She never did; it was always Dimitri that she wanted. The only reason you are with me is because you can't have her and I refuse to be your little play toy Adrian. If I can't trust you to be faithful then what do we have because I can't be with someone I don't trust!"

"_You _can't be with someone you don't trust! How am I supposed to be with someone who doesn't trust _me_? If you want to break up with me because of what you _think_ I might be doing then go right ahead. You act like you caught me naked in bed with some random girl. I was just _flirting _with Rose. We have always done that. There has never been a time when we didn't ever since I have known her. You should know that. That is our standard relationship, just like her standard relationship with Christian is arguing. It's not like she will ever cheat on Belikov, so you don't have anything to worry about."

"How the hell did I get brought into the argument?" Christian whispers to me as a breath of aftershave hits me. Damn it. How did Dimitri find us?

"What," he asks us, "are you two doing?"

"Be quiet. We are trying to hear," Christian hisses angrily at Dimitri.

Dimitri frowns at us, and rolls his eyes and turns to me and says, "Rose, we _will _talk about this later," and walks away.

Wait. What the hell. He is supposed to be my boyfriend, not my father.

"Do I have another argument to listen to tonight?" Christian asks me happily.

"No," I say. "We aren't going to argue. He's probably going to tell me how childish I'm being and blah blah blah."

"We'll see," Christian whispers under his breath, but I try my best to ignore him and tune back into Sydney and Adrian's argument.

"Is that supposed to reassure me Adrian? All that tells me is that you won't cheat on me with Rose because _she _won't allow it. What if some other girl comes along who looks just as good as Rose? How am I supposed to be sure you won't cheat on me with her because from your comments it seems like the only thing keeping you from cheating is the female consenting to your request."

"It's not likely that someone will come along who looks better than Rose."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better!" she shouts at him again.

"Yeah, it is actually!"

"Adrian, if you can't be serious about us then there is no us." 

"Are you breaking things off Sydney?"

"Why do you seem so shocked? Is that not what you want?"

"No, it's not what I want."

"Well it seems like it is, and until you can prove otherwise stay out of my life Adrian."

"How the hell am I going to do that when we are sharing a room?"

"I was going to address this issue next. Go ask Lissa for a different room, I'm sure she will understand my dilemma."

"Wait. Are you kicking me out?"

"Yes, now GET OUT, LEAVE, RIGHT NOW, IT'S THE END OF YOU AND ME! Now Adrian. I don't even want to look at you right now. You make me sick!"

"Fine!" he shouts, "but I want my stuff."

"Alright, you've got five minutes to get your stuff and go. Starting now."

"Wow, she sounded like JoJo when she told him to get out," I say to Christian out in the hallway.

"Who?" he asks.

I guess he wouldn't know who that was. He wasn't with Lissa and me when we lived among humans for two years. That was one of the songs I heard that I actually liked.

"Never mind," I say. "We need to get back to our rooms before Adrian comes out here and finds us."

"Yeah, you're right. Good night Rose, and thanks for bringing me with you. I really enjoyed this."

"Yeah, me too. Good night Christian. Oh, and you can tell Lissa what we did, and tell her I said good night too.

"Alright," he called walking off.

Now I have to go back to my room and deal with a pissed off Russian god. Just great. Well now is as good a time as any. Then I set off back to my room.

Once I step inside the first thing I notice is Dimitri asleep on his side of the bed. Thank goodness because I was not in the mood for one of his lectures. I decided to go take a shower before climbing into bed with him, but just as I pulled the covers over myself I heard him speak.

"Rose, I told you we were going to talk. Did you really believe I was asleep?" he asked me amused.

"I was hoping you were," I replied honestly.

"What exactly were you and Christian doing tonight?"

"Listening to Sydney and Adrian's argument," I say, but before he could voice his disapproval I relayed the entire argument to him, and before he could ask any questions or voice any other disapprovals he may have had my lips were crushing his hungrily. Any thoughts he may have had were gone. The only thing he was thinking about was me—which is how I liked it—and before I knew it all of our clothing was on the floor in a pile.

I awoke the next morning with Dimitri standing over me telling me to get ready. We had to go read some more of the book, and everyone had decided to get up early so we could get further into it today than we did yesterday.

When I finally finished getting ready Dimitri and I walked over to the room we had been in yesterday. It didn't shock me that we were the last to arrive because I am never on time for anything—Dimitri knows that better than anyone, and so does Lissa. Of course Christian was the first one to speak to us.

"Did your little nightcap go on longer than you had expected?" he asked us—me in particular—deviously.

"Oh, Christian, did I tell you I found the perfect rock for you?" I say to him. "I didn't expect to find one so large this close to Court. It's actually big enough for two," I say looking at Adrian, but to my surprise he didn't reply. I guess his argument with Sydney had really gotten to him. I'll leave him alone today—as long as he does the same.

The next person to speak was Mia. "Good morning," she said to Dimitri and me.

"Good morning," we responded in unison, but it was directed to everyone in the room.

"So who wants to begin reading today?" Mikhail asked.

"I want to read first," Mia said, and Mikhail handed her the book that was in his hands.

"Chapter four," she read aloud, once she found it.

**WE DIDN'T HAVE THE ENTIRE commons' attention this time, thank God, but a few passing people had stopped to stare.**

Mia stopped reading and turned to look at me in shock, but it wasn't her who spoke.

"Rose, since when do you believe in God?" my mother asked me.

"And when did you stop liking attention?" Christian asked.

I decided to not dignify any of their questions with answers and turned to Mia and told her to keep reading.

**"What the hell do you think you're doing?" asked Doll Girl, blue eyes wide and sparkling with fury. **

"Do you have to call me that?" Mia asked.

"Yep," I say to her, "but look on the bright side. At least I don't call you that anymore."

She grunted and continued reading.

**Up close now, I was able to get a better look at her. She had the same slim build as most Moroi but not the usual height, which was partly what made her look so young. The tiny purple dress she wore was gorgeous**

"At least you had the decency to at least think something nice about her," Eddie said.

I gave him a devilish smile and said, "Wait for it."

He just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Mia.

—**reminding me that I was indeed dressed in thrift-shop wear—but closer inspection led me to think it was a designer knockoff.**

Eddie turned back to me and rolled his eyes again. Mia had an exasperated look on her face, but everyone else looked indifferent because I'm sure they expected no less from me.

"It doesn't pay to have Rose as an enemy," Christian said, and Lissa shot him a glare and he immediately shut up.

"Mia, please continue reading," Lissa says to Mia in a sweet voice. "You know Rose only said those things because she didn't like you at the time, but things are different now. You two are friends now, and what happened in the past doesn't matter."

"Lissa's right," I say to Mia.

She didn't say anything, but she did smile a little bit before she began reading again.

**I crossed my arms across my chest. "Are you lost, little girl? The elementary school's over on west campus."**

**A pink flush spread over her cheeks. "Don't you ever touch me again. You screw with me, and I'll screw you right back."**

"Are you sure it's _me _you'll screw?" I asked Mia playfully. She just blushed bright red and continued reading as if I hadn't said anything.

**Oh man, what an opening that was. Only a head shake from Lissa stopped me from unleashing any number of hilarious comebacks. Instead, I opted for simple brute force, so to speak.**

Dimitri and my mother shook their heads at that statement.

**"And if you mess with either of us again, I'll break you in half. If you don't believe me, go ask Dawn Yarrow about what I did to her arm in ninth grade. You were probably at nap time when it happened."**

"Who is Dawn Yarrow and exactly what did you do to her?" Abe asked with delight in his voice.

"I'm sure that will be addressed later," I tell him.

**The incident with Dawn hadn't been one of my finer moments. **

"You think," Christian said snarkily.

**I honestly hadn't expected to break any bones when I shoved her into a tree. Still, the incident had given me a dangerous reputation, in addition to my smartass one. The story had gained legendary status, and I liked to imagine that it was still being told around campfires late at night. **

I looked over at Abe and he was beaming with pride. My mother however, did not look too thrilled about what I had done.

**Judging from the look on this girl's face, it was.**

"It sure was," Mia said—much to my liking.

"I'm glad," I said. "Too bad that didn't stop you from fucking with us though. It may have saved you a bloody dress."

"What do you mean?" Viktoria asked.

"Let's just say Mia crossed a lot of lines and I dealt with it as I saw fit," I answer, and I say Mia's pallor skin turn even more pallid.

"I don't really think what you did was necessary," Mia says to me, but before I can answer her she continues to read.

**One of the patrolling staff members strolled by right then, casting suspicious eyes at our little meeting. Doll Girl backed off, taking Aaron's arm. "Come on," she said.**

"Suspicious! She had no reason to be suspicious. A five year old could have seen that they were arguing. I see how you got away with as much stuff as you did while you were at school! You could have set the dorms on fire and they wouldn't have known," my mother exclaims.

"_I _didn't set anything on fire," I say to my mother, with a sweet smile.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asks me.

"I'm sure we'll find out later," Sydney says to my mother.

At the sound of Sydney's voice Adrian's head sprung up in her direction. By the look on his face you could tell that he was really hurt, but Sydney ignored him, and that just made his hurt look increase. It kind of reminded me of the time when we were dating and I forgot to meet him at his parents' house like I promised. He was really upset that I hadn't come, but the look on his face now was indescribable. He looks like, like, well the only thing I can think to say is that he looks like shit, but that doesn't appropriately describe how dejected he looks right now.

"Fine," my mother replies.

**"Hey, Aaron," I said cheerfully, remembering he was there. "Nice to see you again."**

**He gave me a quick nod and an uneasy smile, just as the girl dragged him off. Same old Aaron. He might be nice and cute, but aggressive he was not.**

"We kind of figured that part out already Rose. He did just let his girlfriend drag him off," Viktoria says.

"That doesn't mean he isn't aggressive," Dimitri says.

"Really. Dimka would you let Rose drag you off somewhere, or would you be doing the dragging?" Sonya asks him.

"It depends," Christian answered for him, "if she was dragging him off to a bedroom then he would probably let her."

Dimitri and I both shot Christian angry glares and he cowered into Lissa's side.

"Please continue reading," Dimitri says to Mia, not even bothering to answer his sister's question.

**I turned to Lissa. "You okay?" She nodded. "Any idea who I just threatened to beat up?"**

"Oh, great Rose. You just threatened to beat someone up and you don't even know who she was," Eddie exclaimed.

"I do now," I say defensively.

**"Not a clue." I started to lead her toward the lunch line, but she shook her head at me." Gotta go see the feeders."**

**A funny feeling settled over me. I'd gotten so used to being her primary blood source that the thought of returning to the Moroi's normal routine seemed strange. In fact, it almost bothered me. **

Before my mother could open her mouth I cut her off, "I said _almost_."

**It shouldn't have. Daily feedings were part of a Moroi's life, something I hadn't been able to offer her while living on our own. It had been an inconvenient situation, one that left me weak on feeding days and her weak on the days in between. I should have been happy she would get some normality.**

**I forced a smile. "Sure."**

My mother twitched in her seat when she heard that sentence.

**We walked into the feeding room, which sat adjacent to the cafeteria. It was set up with small cubicles, dividing the room's space in an effort to offer privacy. A dark-haired Moroi woman greeted us at the entrance and glanced down at her clipboard, flipping through the pages. Finding what she needed, she made a few notes and then gestured for Lissa to follow. Me she gave a puzzled look, but she didn't stop me from entering.**

"She should have," I heard my mother say under her breath.

**She led us to one of the cubicles where a plump, middle-aged woman sat leafing through a magazine. She looked up at our approach and smiled. In her eyes, I could see the dreamy, glazed-over look most feeders had. She'd probably neared her quota for the day, judging from how high she appeared to be.**

I shuddered in my seat, happy I had never become addicted like that.

**Recognizing Lissa, her smile grew. "Welcome back, Princess."**

**The greeter left us, and Lissa sat down in the chair beside the woman. I sensed a feeling of discomfort in her, a little different from my own. This was weird for her too; it had been a long time. The feeder, however, had no such reservations. An eager look crossed her face—the look of a junkie about to get her next fix.**

"What did you expect?" Abe asked me. "She is a feeder after all. That's what they are for."

I just shrugged my shoulders and turned back to Mia.

**Disgust poured into me. **

"Can you say hypocrite?" Christian asks.

"Shut up Christian," I warn.

**It was an old instinct, one that had been drilled in over the years. Feeders were essential to Moroi life. They were humans who willingly volunteered to be a regular blood source, humans from the fringes of society who gave their lives over to the secret world of the Moroi. They were well cared for and given all the comforts they could need. **

Sydney rolled her eyes at that statement.

**But at the heart of it, they were drug users, addicts to Moroi saliva and the rush it offered with each bite. The Moroi—and guardians—looked down on this dependency, even though the Moroi couldn't have survived otherwise unless they took victims by force. Hypocrisy at its finest.**

"I have never really thought about it like that," Jill says.

"Me either," Lissa agrees.

"I guess Rose does have some things going on in her head," Christian comments.

"More than you," I say to him.

"I doubt that," he shoots back.

"Wanna bet?" I ask him.

"Will you two stop bickering so we can read," Mia hisses at both of us.

"Sure," we say, not too convincingly.

**The feeder tilted her head, giving Lissa full access to her neck. Her skin there was marked with scars from years of daily bites. The infrequent feedings Lissa and I had done had kept my neck clear; my bite marks never lasted more than a day or so.**

As I looked around the room I noticed that Dimitri had turned pail, and I could guess why. When he was a Strigoi he feed off me frequently during my captivity in Russia, and my neck had been covered in bruises. I could tell that it still caused him pain, so I took his hand in mine and squeezed it and he squeezed back and regained some of the color in his face.

**Lissa leaned forward, fangs biting into the feeder's yielding flesh. The woman closed her eyes, making a soft sound of pleasure. I swallowed, watching Lissa drink. I couldn't see any blood, but I could imagine it. A surge of emotion grew in my chest: longing. Jealousy. **

My mother narrowed her eyes at me, but I pretended not to see her and focused my attention on Mia.

**I averted my eyes, staring at the floor. Mentally, I scolded myself.**

My mother looked happier and satisfied after this statement.

**What's wrong with you? Why should you miss it? You only did it once every day. You aren't addicted, not like this. And you don't want to be.**

"You sure don't," my mother said from across the room.

**But I couldn't help myself, couldn't help the way I felt as I recalled the bliss and rush of a vampire's bite.**

She frowned again, and it took everything in me not to throw something at her.

**Lissa finished and we returned to the commons, moving toward the lunch line. It was short, since we only had fifteen minutes left, and I strolled up and began to load my plate with french fries and some rounded, bite-size objects that looked vaguely like chicken nuggets. **

"If you don't know what it is, then why eat it?" Tasha asks me.

"We don't really have a choice. We eat it because if we don't we won't get anything else," I say to her.

"Oh," she says, and then I noticed that she was staring at mine and Dimitri's intertwined hands with longing and jealously. I forgot that she liked him, but her feelings were not enough for me to let go of his hand, but for some unknown reason I squeezed his hand tighter and Tasha's scowl grew. I enjoyed the look on her face for some odd reason. Maybe a part of me was still angry at her for trying to steal Dimitri away from me.

**Lissa only grabbed a yogurt. Moroi needed food, as dhampirs and humans did, but rarely had an appetite after drinking blood.**

**"So how'd classes go?" I asked.**

"Rose, interested in class. I must be dying," Eddie says, and Christian laughs.

"I wasn't interested in class, I was interested in how her day went," I say to both of them.

**She shrugged. Her face was bright with color and life now. "Okay. Lots of stares. A **_**lot **_**of stares. Lots of questions about where we were. Whispering."**

**"Same here," I said. The attendant checked us out, and we walked toward the tables. I gave Lissa a sidelong glance. "You okay with that? They aren't bothering you, are they?"**

"And if they are, what are _you _going to do about it?" my mother asks me.

"What do you think she is going to do?" Abe asks Janine. "She is going to do exactly what I would do if I was in her place," he said with a proud smile plastered across his face.

My mother glared at him, but he ignored it and turned his attention back to Mia.

**"No—it's fine." The emotions coming through the bond contradicted her words.**

"That must get really annoying," Adrian said, and I was shocked to hear his voice. He hadn't said anything all day, but to be honest I was kind of glade he did. I missed his running commentary a little bit. When he and Christian were both harassing me, it kind of balanced things out.

"It really does," Lissa says. "I can't get away with anything."

**Knowing I could feel that, she tried to change the subject by handing me her class schedule. I looked it over.**

"Rose, actually reading something. I must already be dead," Christian says.

"I read," I say. "When I have to," I add in a small voice.

**1stPeriod Russian 2**

**2ndPeriod American Colonial Literature**

**3rdPeriod Basics of Elemental Control**

**4thPeriod Ancient Poetry**

—**Lunch —**

**5thPeriod Animal Behavior and Physiology**

**6thPeriod Advanced Calculus**

**7thPeriod Moroi Culture 4**

**8thPeriod Slavic Art**

"They," my mother said, "should not have given you two a nearly identical afternoon schedule."

**"Nerd," I said. "If you were in Stupid Math like me, we'd have the same afternoon schedule." **

"I am not a nerd," Lissa exclaims. "I just study and work hard."

"Nerd," I yell at her.

She shots me a glare and I pretend to be scared and cower into Dimitri's arms. There were two advantages to this: I got to be in Dimitri's arms _and _it pissed Tasha off.

**I stopped walking. "Why are you in elemental basics? That's a sophomore class."**

"According to the school," Adrian says, "she hasn't specialized."

**She eyed me. "Because seniors take specialized classes."**

"Uh, duh, Rose," Christian says.

**We fell silent at that. All Moroi wielded elemental magic. It was one of the things that differentiated living vampires from Strigoi, the dead vampires. Moroi viewed magic as a gift. It was part of their souls and connected them to the world.**

Sydney snorted at this.

**A long time ago, they had used their magic openly averting natural disasters and helping with things like food and water production. They didn't need to do that as much anymore, but the magic was still in their blood. It burned in them and made them want to reach out to the earth and wield their power. Academies like this existed to help Moroi control the magic and learn how to do increasingly complex things with it. Students also had to learn the rules that surrounded magic, rules that had been in place for centuries and were strictly enforced.**

"Dumb rules," Christian and Jill said together, and Alberta shot them a glare.

**All Moroi had a small ability in each element. When they got to be around our age, students "specialized" when one element grew stronger than the others: earth, water, fire, or air. **

"Or spirit," Lissa exclaimed happily, as she and Adrian exchanged smiles.

**Not specializing was like not going through puberty.**

"It was, until we figured out we had actually specialized," Adrian said.

**And Lissa…well, Lissa hadn't specialized yet.**

"Yes I had," Lissa said.

"We know that _now_. But at the time we didn't," I say to her.

**"Is Ms. Carmack still teaching that? What she'd say?"**

**"She says she's not worried. She thinks it'll come."**

**"Did you—did you tell her about—"**

**Lissa shook her head. "No. Of course not."**

**We let the subject drop. It was one we thought about a lot but rarely spoke of.**

"Could you enlighten us please?" Sydney asks.

"Yeah," Karolina says, "I'm tired of not knowing. It seems like we are the only ones in the dark about everything that happens in the book."

"Calm down Karolina," Dimitri says to his older sister, "everything will be explained in due time. You need to remember that it is still pretty early in the book, we are only on chapter four."

"Yeah, Dimka, you're right," she says. "I'll be patient."

**We started moving again, scanning the tables as we decided where to sit. A few pairs of eyes looked up at us with blatant curiosity.**

**"Lissa!" came a nearby voice. Glancing over, we saw Natalie waving at us. Lissa and I exchanged looks. Natalie was sort of Lissa's cousin in the way Victor was sort of her uncle, but we'd never hung out with her all that much.**

"Too bad we started," I say out loud.

"What is _that _supposed to mean?" Sonya asks. "I'm beginning to agree with Karolina. We are in the dark about everything."

"You will find out later," I say to her—much to her disliking.

**Lissa shrugged and headed in that direction. "Why not?"**

"I can think of plenty of reasons," I say under my breath.

"Rose, calm down," Dimitri says to me.

It took me a few seconds, but I did finally calm down and once I did Mia continued reading.

**I followed reluctantly. Natalie was nice but also one of the most uninteresting people I knew. **

"Why didn't I just pull us in another direction?" I ask.

"Rose!" everyone in the room shouts.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop. You didn't have to yell."

**Most royals at the school enjoyed a kind of celebrity status, but Natalie had never fit in with that crowd. She was too plain, too uninterested in the politics of the Academy, and too clueless to really navigate them anyway.**

I bit my tongue trying to keep the comment that had formed in my head from exiting through my mouth.

**Natalie's friends eyed us with a quiet curiosity, but she didn't hold back. She threw her arms around us. Like Lissa, she had jade-green eyes, but her hair was jet black, like Victor's had been before his disease grayed it.**

**"You're back! I knew you would be! Everyone said you were gone forever, but I never believed that. I knew you couldn't stay away. Why'd you go? There are so many stories about why you left!" **

"Really, I thought there weren't going to be any stories as to why they left. Thanks for stating the obvious," I heard Viktoria say from across the room. She had obviously taking a disliking to Natalie. Too bad I hadn't done that when we returned to school.

**Lissa and I exchanged glances as Natalie prattled on. "Camille said one of you got pregnant and went off to have an abortion, but I knew that couldn't be true. **

"That one is actually believable," Eddie said, "Rose did have a stellar reputation," he added sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at him and suppressed the urge to throw something at him.

**Someone else said you went off to hang out with Rose's mom, but I figured Ms. Kirova and Daddy wouldn't have been so upset if you'd turned up there. **

"Why the hell would they run off to come spend time with me," my mother asked. "I would have shipped them back to the U.S. in a cardboard box."

"We wouldn't have come to see you because at the time I hated you," I say to my mother, and she shut up abruptly.

**Did you know we might get to be roommates? I was talking to…"**

**On and on she chatted, flashing her fangs as she spoke. I smiled politely, letting Lissa deal with the onslaught until Natalie asked a dangerous question.**

"And what might that be?" Adrian asked.

"If you hadn't interrupted me you would know by now," Mia hissed at him.

**"What'd you do for blood, Lissa?"**

"That is a dangerous question," Adrian says, "so what lie did you two come up with—or should I say what lie did Rose come up with?"

"If you shut up and listen you'll find out in about five seconds," I say to him.

**The table regarded us questioningly Lissa froze, but I immediately jumped in, the lie coming effortlessly to my lips.**

"I bet it did," Christian said, earning a glare from Adrian, who was anxious to know what I would say.

**"Oh, it's easy. There are a lot of humans who want to do it."**

**"Really?" asked one of Natalie's friends, wide-eyed.**

"They are really dumb if they believed that," Adrian said, not impressed.

"I didn't believe it," Christian said happily.

**"Yup. You find 'em at parties and stuff. They're all looking for a fix from something, and they don't really get that a vampire's doing it: most are already so wasted they don't remember anyway." My already vague details dried up, so I simply shrugged in as cool and confident a way as I could manage. It wasn't like any of them knew any better. **

"Obviously," Adrian said.

He hadn't earned any glares from Sydney, probably because he wasn't flirting with me or maybe because she was trying to act like she didn't care what he did.

**"Like I said, it's easy. Almost easier than with our own feeders."**

"Yeah right," Christian says.

**Natalie accepted this and than launched into some other topic. Lissa shot me a grateful look.**

**Ignoring the conversation again, I took in the old faces, trying to figure out who was hanging out with whom and how power had shifted within the school. Mason, sitting with a group of novices, caught my eye, and I smiled. Near him, a group of Moroi royals sat, laughing over something. Aaron and the blond girl sat there too.**

"Can someone please tell her my name," Mia exclaimed. "I am tired of being called doll girl and blond girl."

"Don't worry," I reassure her, "I find out your name in the next couple of sentences."

"Good," she says.

"Too bad I still didn't use it much."

She shoots me an evil glare and I shoot one right back at her. The only difference is that she cowered under my glare before she started reading again.

**"Hey, Natalie," I said, turning around and cutting her off. She didn't seem to notice or mind. **

"As much as she talks, I'm sure she's used to it," Viktoria says bitterly.

**"Who's Aaron's new girlfriend?"**

**"Huh? Oh. Mia Rinaldi." Seeing my blank look, she asked, "Don't you remember her?"**

"Obviously not," Viktoria comments again—much to my amusement.

**"Should I? Was she here when we left?"**

"Yes, I was there when you left. I'm only a year younger than you Rose," Mia says incredulously.

"Hey," I yell at her, "It's not my fault I didn't know who you were. You must not have been very important."

"Hey!" Mia yells.

"Can you two please stop yelling at each other so we can get through with this chapter and move on to the next one?" Eddie asks.

"Fine," we say together, and Mia continues reading.

**"She's always been here," said Natalie. "She's only a year younger than us."**

**I shot a questioning look at Lissa, who only shrugged.**

**"Why is she so pissed off at us?" I asked. "Neither of us know her."**

"_You two _didn't do anything," Christian says seriously.

"Then who did?" Sydney asked, beating Adrian to the question.

"You'll find out later," Lissa says, "and Mia I'm sorry about that."

"Yeah, I know," she says to Lissa.

**"I don't know," answered Natalie. "Maybe she's jealous about Aaron. She wasn't much of anybody when you guys left. She got **_**really **_**popular **_**really **_**fast. She isn't royal or anything, but once she started dating Aaron, she—"**

**"Okay, thanks," I interrupted. "It doesn't really—"**

**My eyes lifted up from Natalie's face to Jesse Zeklos's, just as he passed by our table. **

"I hate that bastard," Mia and I say together.

"Rose, I know why you don't like him, but why don't you like him?" Dimitri asks, looking at Mia.

"I'm sure you'll find out later," she says.

"Rose, why do _you _hate him?" Olena asks.

"You'll find out later," I say to her bitterly, thinking about what Jesse did sickens me.

**Ah, Jesse. I'd forgotten about him. I liked flirting with Mason and some of the other novices, but Jesse was in an entirely different category. **

"Yeah, he is," I say, "and it's called the jackass category."

That made Mia, Lissa, Eddie, and Christian laugh.

**You flirted with the other guys simply for the sake of flirting. You flirted with Jesse in the hopes of getting semi-naked with him. **

"Which you did," Eddie said out loud and everyone in the room turned to look at me.

"Thanks for saying that out loud Eddie. You couldn't keep that to yourself!" I exclaim.

"You didn't. You made it the entire class' business. Remember," he says to me.

I saw the questioning looks on everyone's faces who didn't know what happened in the lounge with Jesse. My next comment was directed at them.

"You—I'm sure—will find out what we are talking about later."

**He was a royal Moroi, and he was so hot, he should have worn a warning: flammable sign. He met my eyes and grinned.**

"I bet he did," Christian said snarkily.

I was about ready to kill him again, and I might have to add Eddie to that list.

**"Hey Rose, welcome back. You still breaking hearts?"**

"Was he offering?" Viktoria asked.

"You think like me," I told her.

"Now that's a scary thought," Dimitri says.

**"Are you volunteering?"**

**His grin widened. "Let's hang out sometime and find out. If you ever get parole."**

"Like that will ever happen," Christian says.

"I don't know Christian. She did find a way to _hang out_," Eddie says.

"Eddie, would you like to join Christian under his rock?" I ask.

"Rose," he replies, "I'm a trained guardian too. I think I could handle you."

"We'll see," I say to him darkly.

**He kept walking, and I watched him admiringly. Natalie and her friends stared at me in awe. I might not be a god in the Dimitri sense, but with this group, Lissa and I **_**were **_**gods— or at least former gods—of another nature.**

"What was _that _supposed to mean?" Viktoria asks. "It looks like someone is crushing on her mentor already."

"Shut up," I yell at her, and she laughs.

**"Oh my gawd," exclaimed one girl. I didn't remember her name. "That was **_**Jesse."**_

**"Yes," I said, smiling. "It certainly was."**

**"I wish I looked like you," she added with a sigh.**

"Doesn't everybody," Sydney said bitterly, and Adrian flinched in his seat.

**Their eyes fell on me. Technically, I was half-Moroi, but my looks were human. I'd blended in well with humans during our time away, so much so that I'd barely thought about my appearance at all. Here, among the slim and small-chested Moroi girls, certain features—meaning my larger breasts and more defined hips—stood out. **

"Don't forget your bad attitude and badass reputation," Mia says dryly.

**I knew I was pretty, but to Moroi boys, my body was more than just pretty: it was sexy in a risqué way. Dhampirs were an exotic conquest, a novelty all Moroi guys wanted to "try."**

"You knew that but yet you still went to the lounge with the Zeklos boy," Dimitri whispers so only I can hear.

I just shrug my shoulders and listen to Mia read.

**It was ironic that dhampirs had such an allure here, because slender Moroi girls looked very much like the super-skinny runway models so popular in the human world. **

"We really do," Lissa says.

**Most humans could never reach that "ideal" skinniness, just as Moroi girls could never look like me. Everyone wanted what she couldn't have.**

**Lissa and I got to sit together in our shared afternoon classes but didn't do much talking. **

"Good," my mother commented.

**The stares she'd mentioned certainly did follow us, but I found that the more I talked to people, the more they warmed up. Slowly, gradually, they seemed to remember who we were, and the novelty—though not the intrigue—of our crazy stunt wore off. **

"What you two did, I'm sure, will be talked about around campus for years to come," Eddie says.

**Or maybe I should say, they remembered who **_**I **_**was. Because I was the only one talking. Lissa stared straight ahead, listening but neither acknowledging nor participating in my attempts at conversation. I could feel anxiety and sadness pouring out of her.**

"What were you so anxious and sad about?" Christian asks her.

"I think Mia is about to read about it," she responds.

**"All right," I told her when classes finally ended. We stood outside the school, and I was fully aware that in doing so, I was already breaking the terms of my agreement with Kirova. **

"Too bad you didn't care," my mother says.

"I did care actually, but Lissa was more important than some agreement I made with Kirova," I respond.

**"We're not staying here," I told her, looking around the campus uneasily. I'm going to find a way to get us out."**

"Are you out of your mind!" my mother shouts.

"Calm down. You know we didn't leave again," I say trying to assuage her anger.

"Yeah, _she _didn't, but _you _did," my mother says.

I didn't have a response for that. It's not like I really had a choice. I had to find Dimitri. I had to end the horrible state of existence he was in.

"I didn't have a choice," I say so low she barley heard me.

"You did have a choice, and you should have stayed in school," Dimitri says.

Now I really didn't have anything to say. If I hadn't gone after him, he would not be sitting beside me right now. We would not be together. He would still be sucking the life out of innocent victims. I can't believe he just said that. Wasn't he grateful for what I sacrificed for him.

And like he could read my mind he said, "Yes, I am grateful for what you did, but it was still irresponsible and reckless. You could have been killed. _I _could have killed you," he said, hurt evident in his voice.

"But you didn't," Lissa says. "Now Mia can you continue reading?"

Mia had a confused look on her face, as did most of the other people in the room. However, Mikhail knew exactly what we were talking about because he had once done the exact same thing.

**"You think we could really do it a second time?" Lissa asked quietly.**

"Hell no. Getting out the first time was a major bitch," I exclaim, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

**"Absolutely." I spoke with certainty, again relieved she couldn't read my feelings.**

_I wish I could_,Lissa says to me through the bond.

**Escaping the first time had been tricky enough. Doing it again would be a real bitch, not that I couldn't still find a way.**

"If anyone could it would be Rose," Christian says.

"Don't encourage her," my mother shouts at Christian.

"I wasn't," he says.

**"You really would, wouldn't you?" She smiled, more to herself than to me, like she'd thought of something funny. "Of course you would. It's just, well. . ." She sighed. "I don't know if we should go. Maybe—maybe we should stay."**

"At least one of you has some sense," my mother says.

**I blinked in astonishment. "What?" Not one of my more eloquent answers, but the best I could manage. I'd never expected this from her.**

"Neither did I," Lissa says to me.

**"I saw you, Rose. I saw you talking to the other novices during class, talking about practice. You miss that."**

**"It's not worth it," I argued. "Not if…not if **_**you… **_**" I couldn't finish, but she was right. She'd read me. I **_**had **_**missed the other novices. Even some of the Moroi. **

"By some do you mean Jesse?" Viktoria asks.

"No," I say defensively.

**But there was more to it than just that. The weight of my inexperience, how much I'd fallen behind, had been growing all day.**

"I bet it had," Janine said.

"Janine," Abe scolded.

**"It might be better," she countered. "I haven't had as many…you know, things happening in a while. I haven't felt like anyone was following or watching us."**

"You felt that way too," Mikhail asked her.

"Yeah," she says in response.

"Sonya used to feel that way all the time," he says dejected.

When he said this Dimitri's sister's head shot up with a look of confusion on her face.

"Not you Sonya," I say to her. "He is talking about one of our ex-teachers."

"Oh," she says.

**I didn't say anything to that. Before we'd left the Academy, she'd always felt like someone was following her, like she was being hunted. I'd never seen evidence to support that, but I had once heard one of our teachers go on and on about the same sort of thing. Ms. Karp. **

"That's who he was talking about," I say to Sonya.

**She'd been a pretty Moroi, with deep auburn air and high cheekbones. **

Mikhail smiled at this.

**And I was pretty sure she'd been crazy.**

His smile faltered at this statement.

**"You never know who's watching," she used to say, walking briskly around the classroom as she shut all the blinds. "Or who's following you. Best to be safe. Best to **_**always **_**be safe." We'd snickered amongst ourselves because that's what students do around eccentric and paranoid teachers. **

Mikhail stiffened in his seat, and I regretted the words I said about Ms. Karp, and future things I would say about her.

"Mikhail, you know I didn't mean anything by that," I say to him, hoping he hadn't taken offense at my words.

"Rose, I know you didn't mean any harm. You are an outspoken person and you say what's on your mind. I can't be mad at that."

"Thanks," I say.

**The thought of Lissa acting like her bothered me.**

**"What's wrong?" Lissa asked, noticing that I was lost in thought.**

"Rose is lost in thought and you ask her what's _wrong_," Christian laughs.

**"Huh? Nothing. Just thinking." **

"She doesn't do that often," Eddie says.

I was so going to need to find another rock because at this rate Eddie is going to be lying right next to Christian.

**I sighed, trying to balance my own wants with what was best for her. "Liss, we can stay, I guess…but there are a few conditions."**

Adrian, Mia, Eddie, and Christian gasp in shock.

"Hey!" I yell at them.

**This made her laugh. "A Rose ultimatum, huh?"**

**"I'm serious." **

Christian fell out of his chair at this, and everyone laughed out right.

**Words I didn't say very much. "I want you to stay away from the royals. Not like Natalie or anything but you know, the others. The power players. Camille. Carly. That group."**

"I wish I had told you to stay away from Natalie," I say to Lissa.

"Me too," Lissa says.

**Her amusement turned to astonishment. "Are you serious?"**

**"Sure. You never liked them anyway."**

**"You did."**

"No. If they are anything like the royals at my school then she liked all the parties and other stuff they could offer," Viktoria says.

"That's what I told Lissa. We really do think alike," I say to Viktoria, no wonder we became such good friends during my stay in Russia.

"Please, do not say that," Dimitri says. "One Rose is hard enough to keep in line. We—_I_—don't need another one."

**"No. Not really. I liked what they could offer. All the parties and stuff."**

**"And you can go without that now?" She looked skeptical.**

"Probably not," Eddie offers.

I wish he would shut up. When did he become so talkative?

**"Sure. We did in Portland ."**

**"Yeah, but that was different." Her eyes stared off, not really focused on any one thing. "Here…**_**here **_**I've got to be a part of that. I can't avoid it."**

"She ended up being a part of it anyway," Christian says dryly.

**"The hell you do. Natalie stays out of that stuff."**

"Natalie had no life," I say, more to myself than anyone in particular.

**"Natalie isn't going to inherit her family's title," she retorted. "I've already got it. I've got to be involved, start making connections. Andre—"**

"Natalie didn't inherit anything, but a grave," I say to Lissa, and this stunned a lot of people in the room. Woops I hope I didn't give anything away. From the looks on their faces they seemed more confused by my comment than anything else.

**"Liss," I groaned. "You **_**aren't **_**Andre." I couldn't believe she was still comparing herself to her brother.**

**"He was always involved in all that stuff."**

"And a hell of a lot more," Mia says angrily before she continues reading.

**"Yeah, well," I snapped back, "he's **_**dead **_**now."**

"Queen Bitch has arrived," Christian announces.

**Her face hardened. "You know, sometimes you aren't very nice."**

"You just now noticed?" Mia asked Lissa.

"No, I was just stating a fact," she replies.

"Correction," Eddies says, "most of the time you are not very nice."

First thing on my to do list: find a rock to burry Eddie under.

**"You don't keep me around to be nice. You want nice, there are a dozen sheep in there who would rip each other's throats to get in good with the Dragomir princess. **

"She has a point," Abe says.

"For once," my mother adds.

I roll my eyes at her and turn my attention back to Mia.

**You keep me around to tell you the truth, and here it is: Andre's dead. You're the heir now, and you're going to deal with it however you can. But for now, that means staying away from the other royals. We'll just lie low. Coast through the middle. Get involved in that stuff again, Liss, and you'll drive yourself…"**

**"Crazy?" she supplied when I didn't finish.**

"It's a good thing I have a shadow-kissed guardian," Lissa says. "If it weren't for you Rose, I would be crazy by now."

**Now I looked away. "I didn't mean…"**

"Sure you didn't," Christian says.

"Shut up," I retort.

**"It's okay" she said, after a moment. She sighed and touched my arm. "Fine. We'll stay and we'll keep out of all that stuff. We'll 'coast through the middle' like you want. Hang out with Natalie, I guess."**

"Why, why, why," I say while hitting my head against the back of my seat.

**To be perfectly honest, I didn't want any of that. I wanted to go to all the royal parties and wild drunken festivities like we'd done before. We'd kept out of that life for years until Lissa's parents and brother died. Andre should have been the one to inherit her family's title, and he'd certainly acted like it. Handsome and outgoing, he'd charmed everyone he knew and had been a leader in all the royal cliques and clubs that existed on campus. **

"He sure was," Mia said darkly, agreeing with my statement.

**After his death, Lissa had felt it was her family duty to take his place.**

"I didn't feel like it was. I knew it was my duty. I was the only known Dragomir left," she says to me. "Jill isn't old enough to take on that responsibility, plus we didn't even know I was related to her."

"Yeah, you're right," I respond reluctantly.

**I'd gotten to join that world with her. It was easy for me, because I didn't really have to deal with the politics of it. I was a pretty dhampir, one who didn't mind getting into trouble and pulling crazy stunts. I became a novelty; they liked having me around for the fun of it.**

"I bet they did," my mother said.

"Will you please stop criticizing everything I do?" I ask her.

"I will when you start acting like an adult," she says.

"Just so you know, I wasn't an adult yet," I say to her.

**Lissa had to deal with other matters. The Dragomirs were one of the twelve ruling families. She'd have a very powerful place in Moroi society, and the other young royals wanted to get in good with her. Fake friends tried to schmooze her and get her to team up against other people. **

"I hate all the royal games," Lissa says.

"I did too," Mia says, "and I'm not even royal."

**The royals could bribe and backstab in the same breath—and that was just with **_**each other. **_**To dhampirs and non-royals, they were completely unpredictable.**

"I whole-heartedly agree," Mia says, and then continues reading.

**That cruel culture had eventually taken its toll on Lissa. She had an open, kind nature, one that I loved, and I hated to see her upset and stressed by royal games. She'd grown fragile since the accident, and all the parties in the world weren't worth seeing her hurt.**

"You are really good to her," my mother comments, and I think that is the nicest thing she has said to me all day.

"I'm lucky to have a best friend like you," Lissa says to me.

**"All right then," I said finally. "We'll see how this goes. If anything goes wrong—anything at all—we leave. No arguments."**

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Viktoria asks me.

"Yeah, I did actually, but that can wait. Or better yet, it is going to come to me," I say.

**She nodded.**

**"Rose?"**

"What did I tell you," I say to Viktoria. "Wanna guess who it is?"

"I already have a good guess," she says to me smiling.

**We both looked up at Dimitri's looming form. I hoped he hadn't heard the part about us leaving.**

"Lucky for you I didn't," he says to me.

**"You're late for practice," he said evenly. Seeing Lissa, he gave a polite nod. "Princess."**

"I hate it when you do that Dimitri. Please call me Lissa," she says to him.

"I do you call you Lissa, well at least now I do," he says to her.

**As he and I walked away, I worried about Lissa and wondered if staying here was the right thing to do. I felt nothing alarming through the bond, but her emotions spiked all over the place. Confusion. Nostalgia. Fear. Anticipation. Strong and powerful, they flooded into me.**

"You didn't see anything wrong with that?" Christian asks me wearily.

**I felt the pull just before it happened. It was exactly like what had happened on the plane: her emotions grew so strong that they "sucked" me into her head before I could stop them. I could now see and feel what she did.**

**She walked slowly around the commons, toward the small Russian Orthodox chapel that served most of the school's religious needs. Lissa had always attended mass regularly. Not me.**

"Good girl," Abe said with a smirk on his face. I'm sure the only reason he said that was to get under Sydney's skin, she is a religious nut after all, and by the look on her face: mission accomplished.

**I had a standing arrangement with God: I'd agree to believe in him—barely—so long as he let me sleep in on Sundays. **

"Rose," Sydney said in exasperation.

"What?" I ask her with a confused look on my face. Maybe if I play dumb she'll let the subject drop.

She just shook her head and turned back to Mia.

**But as she went inside, I could feel that she wasn't there to pray. She had another purpose, one I didn't know about. **

"And what might that be?" Adrian asks.

"Her little _love _lair," I say.

Lissa and Christian look at me in shock like I wasn't supposed to know that. "We are bonded remember," I say to her.

**Glancing around, she verified that neither the priest nor any worshippers were close by. The place was empty.**

"That's what you think," Christian says. "I am about to make my grand entrance. Drum roll please."

To Christian's satisfaction Eddie gives him a drum roll. I could kill him—no, I could _them_.

**Slipping through a doorway in the back of the chapel, she climbed a narrow set of creaky stairs up into the attic. Here it was dark and dusty. The only light came through a large stained-glass window that fractured the faint glow of sunrise into tiny, multicolored gems across the floor.**

"That sounds really beautiful," Sydney comments.

"It was," Lissa says.

**I hadn't known until that moment that this room was a regular retreat for Lissa. But now I could feel it, feel her memories of how she used to escape here to be alone and to think. **

"Something you're not used to doing I'm sure," Christian remarks.

"If I have to tell you to shut up again you _will _be under your rock tonight," I retort. I was tired of his mouth.

**The anxiety in her ebbed away ever so slightly as she took in the familiar surroundings. She climbed up into the window seat and leaned her head back against its side, momentarily entranced by the silence and the light.**

**Moroi could stand some sunlight, unlike the Strigoi, but they had to limit their exposure. Sitting here, she could almost pretend she was in the sun, protected by the glass's dilution of the rays.**

**Breathe, just breathe, she told herself. **_**It'll be okay. Rose will take care of everything.**_

"Your faith in Rose sure was strong," Viktoria comments.

"It still is," Lissa says smiling at me. "Rose has always taken care of everything, no matter what it was."

**She believed that passionately, like always, and relaxed further.**

"That makes me want a shadow-kissed guardian," Adrian says.

"What about the lack of privacy that comes with it," I say to him.

"It's worth it," he says, "if that person can keep me from going insane, be there for me when I need him or her, and calm me down the way you do with Lissa, then yeah, it's worth it."

**Then a low voice spoke from the darkness.**

"That would be me," Christian says happily.

**"You can have the Academy but not the window seat."**

"Rude much," Mia says. "I don't see how you two ever got together.

"You'll find out," I say to Mia. "I do a lot of spying on those two."

"You what," Lissa exclaims.

"You heard me," I say to her.

"What exactly did you witness?" she asks me.

"You'll find out soon enough," I say to her.

**She sprang up, heart pounding. I shared her anxiety, and my own pulse quickened. "Who's there?"**

**A moment later, a shape rose from behind a stack of crates, just outside her field of vision. The figure stepped forward, and in the poor lighting, familiar features materialized. Messy black hair. Pale blue eyes. A perpetually sardonic smirk.**

"Does that ever go away," I ask Christian. "People might not be so afraid of you if you didn't look so gothic."

"Rose," he says, "shut up for once in your life."

"Oh, you want me to shut up. Well I wanted you to shut up twenty minutes ago, but did you. Hell no, so why should I."

Christian rolls his eyes at me and I shot him an evil smirk.

**Christian Ozera.**

**"Don't worry," he said. "I won't bite. Well, at least not in the way you're afraid of." He chuckled at his own joke.**

"You shouldn't joke like that Christian," Tasha tells him.

**She didn't find it funny. She had completely forgotten about Christian. So had I. **

"Who ever remembers me?" he says.

"Don't talk like that Christian," Lissa says to him.

**No matter what happened in our world, a few basic truths about vampires remained the same. Moroi were alive; Strigoi were undead. Moroi were mortal; Strigoi were immortal. Moroi were born; Strigoi were **_**made.**_

Christian stiffened at this, and Lissa put a reassuring hand on his back.

**And there were two ways to make a Strigoi. Strigoi could forcibly turn humans, dhampirs, or Moroi with a single bite. Moroi tempted by the promise of immortality could become Strigoi by choice if they purposely killed another person while feeding. Doing that was considered dark and twisted, the greatest of all sins, both against the Moroi way of life and nature itself. Moroi who chose this dark path lost their ability to connect with elemental magic and other powers of the world. That was why they could no longer go into the sun.**

**This is what had happened to Christian's parents. They were Strigoi.**

"More like they had been," Christian says.

"Who would like to read next?" Mia asks.

"I would love to read next," Olena volunteers.

"Okay," Mia says as she hand the book over to Dimitri's mother.

**I apologize for how long it took me to update. I tried to make this chapter extra long to make up for my lack of updating. I was in a rush to get this chapter up, so I did not proofread it because I wanted to get this chapter to you as soon as possible. Sorry about how long it took. Please continue to read my story, recommend it to other people and review.**

**Sorry for any errors you may have found in this chapter.**

**R&R. **


	6. Chapter 5

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed by last chapter. Please continue to read and review and recommend. R&R. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Vampire Academy or any of the characters for that matter. They all belong to the wonderful Richelle Mead. **

"Chapter five," Olena reads.

**OR RATHER, THEY **_**HAD **_**BEEN Strigoi. A regiment of guardians had hunted them down and killed them. **

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Christian and Tasha stiffen. Christian had a horrified look on his face—no doubt remembering what had happened that fatal night. Tasha reached toward her face and held a hand to the scar she received while trying to protect Christian. I knew this subject hurt Christian, so I wasn't planning on making any jokes until we finished reading about his parents.

Lissa noticed Christian's uneasiness and moved closer to him and held him tight.

**If rumors were true, Christian had witnessed it all when he was very young. And although he wasn't Strigoi himself, some people thought he wasn't far off, with the way he always wore black and kept to himself.**

"Maybe he did that because of what he saw," Mia said in an exasperated voice. "If I had witnessed my parents get killed—whether they were evil or not—I would have become reclusive too. That is not something you just get over, and I would know—considering the fact that my mother was killed. Christian was being unfairly judged."

"I'm inclined to agree with Mia," my mother says. "You should not have been judged based upon what your parents did. That was their decision, not yours."

Everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement to what my mother and Mia had just said, and you could tell that Christian appreciated it because his face lit up into a smile that he normally only gave Lissa.

Then Dimitri added, "I hope this goes without saying, but the same goes for you Tasha."

She smiled at him, and he gave her one of his rare full smiles in return. I know Tasha has been through a lot, but if that bitch thinks she can attempt to steal my man again then she is going to have to go through a hell of a lot more. She better keep her paws to herself.

**Strigoi or not, I didn't trust him. He was a jerk, and I silently screamed at Lissa to get out of there—not that my screaming did much good. **

Everyone in the room turned to look at me incredulously.

"What," I shout. "It's not like I knew him all that well. And it's not like I think that now. He's like the annoying brother I never had nor wanted."

"Rose, I know that now. It's not like I liked you much back then either. I thought you were a psychotic bitch," Christian says.

"I know," I say to him darkly. "I head you tell Lissa. Remember. I did do a lot of spying."

"Rose!" Lissa exclaims.

"Liss there is no need to get all excited," I say sarcastically, "I already told you that."

"Yeah, I guess you did, but that doesn't mean I approve."

"You don't have to. It's not like you could have stopped me."

She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "Olena, can you please continue reading?"

"Sure," she says, and Lissa shoots daggers at me from across the room. I wonder if the darkness is getting to her. She normally doesn't do things like that or get that worked up. She has been using a lot of spirit lately. She and Adrian are still practicing so it's a possibility. Maybe it's time for another healing.

**Stupid one-way bond.**

**"What are you doing here?" she asked.**

"What do you think?" Eddie asks. "He's been stalking you for ages."

"I was not stalking her," Christian says defending himself.

"Sure you weren't," Mia chimes in. "You just watched her every move and followed her around, but no, you weren't stalking her."

That made Adrian laugh. "Christian, I had no idea we had two stalkers in the room. First Belikov now you. Wow."

"I am and was not a stalker," Christian retorts.

"Whatever you say lover boy," I say, you know I had to get my two cents in.

Dimitri just shook his head and asked his mother to continue reading.

**"Taking in the sights, of course. That chair with the tarp on it is particularly lovely this time of year. Over there, we have an old box full of the writings of the blessed and crazy St. Vladimir. **

"Rose, you never told me why you wanted those book," Christian says to me. "I was kind of shocked when you sent Mason to get them considering the fact that I always believed you were illiterate."

"I was going to tell you until you opened your mouth and let that second comment fly out," I respond. "And just for the record, no I am not illiterate but I am resisting the urge to kick you ass."

"Rose, there are plenty of guardians in here that will stop you before you get within five feet of me," he says.

"Oh, really. You wanna bet," I say.

"Christian, please do not provoke Rose. Yes, there are lots of guardians in this room, but there is only _one _that is capable of stopping her if she turns violent and gets extremely angry," Lissa says to him.

"I'm happy someone made him see the light," I say to no one in particular.

"Thanks for the compliment Lissa," Eddie says jokingly.

"Sure thing Eddie," she says laughing.

**And let's not forget that beautiful table with no legs in the corner."**

"What's so beautiful about that?" Sydney asks.

"Sydney, you have been around Christian long enough to know that he has a weird sense of humor. He was being sarcastic," Lissa says to Sydney.

"Oh, well, I knew that," she says turning bright red.

"Don't be embarrassed Sydney," I say to her, and she just turns redder. "I personally don't think Christian was joking. He doesn't have a weird sense of humor, _he's _just weird."

"And your crazy," Christian shouts at me.

"How did you know?" I ask him.

He didn't have a reply for that. I think that was the first time I had ever rendered Christian speechless, and boy did it feel good.

**"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and moved toward the door, wanting to leave, but he blocked her way.**

**"Well, what about **_**you?" **_**he taunted. "Why are you up here? Don't you have parties to go to or lives to destroy?"**

"That wasn't _her _job," I say looking at Mia.

"Hey!" she yells. "What are you looking at me for?"

"He did say lives to destroy," I say to Mia.

"Well, in that case he was talking about the wrong friend. He must have gotten Lissa confused with you considering the fact that you tried to ruin my life Rose," Mia says.

"And you tried to ruin mine and my reputation," I shoot back.

"What exactly did you two do to each other?" Viktoria asks. "And how did you ever become friends?"

"I'm sure we will find out later, so can I continue reading?" Olena asks her youngest daughter.

"Fine," Viktoria replies.

**Some of Lissa's old spark returned. "Wow, that's hilarious. Am I like a rite of passage now? Go and see if you can piss off Lissa to prove how cool you are? Some girl I don't even know yelled at me today, and now I've got to deal with you? What does it take to be left alone?"**

"I can't believe I was so bitchy," Lissa says.

"No, you weren't. You were just having a hard day," Christian says to her. "Plus you were hanging out with Rose. I'm sure it kind of rubbed off on you," he added.

I don't think Christian understands how volatile I am. Right now he is pushing all the wrong buttons. He might want to quite while he's behind because if he gets any further back I'm going to explode—or better yet, make him explode. I wonder how you make a bomb. I think I need gasoline, a match, a rag, a—

My thoughts were interrupted when Olena began reading again.

**"Oh. So that's why you're up here. For a pity party."**

**"This isn't a joke. I'm serious." I could tell Lissa was getting angry. It was trumping her earlier distress.**

"At least your snarkiness is good for something," I say to Christian.

"It's good for a lot of things. For one it annoys the hell out of you. And anything that can annoy you is good for something," Christian says to me.

I wanted to run across the room and punch him in the face. I was tired of his mouth. I think Dimitri could sense my distress and he placed a hand on mine to calm me down, and it worked somewhat because it kept me from getting out of my seat and punching Christian, but it did nothing for the anger pent up inside of me.

**He shrugged and leaned casually against the sloping wall. "So am I. I love pity parties. I wish I'd brought the hats. What do you want to mope about first? How it's going to take you a whole day to be popular and loved again? How you'll have to wait a couple weeks before Hollister can ship out some new clothes? If you spring for rush shipping, it might not be so long."**

"You really know how to make a woman feel better don't you," Adrian says to Christian.

"I sure do. Rose even said it herself. At least her emotions weren't all over the place like they had been earlier," Christian says to Adrian.

**"Let me leave," she said angrily, this time pushing him aside.**

"Wow, Lissa pushing somebody. I must have died and gone to Hell," Mia exclaims.

"Mia, it's not that serious," Lissa says, turning red.

"Sweet, peaceful, angelic Lissa pushing someone _is_ serious," Eddie says.

"Maybe she had been hanging around Rose too long," my mother says.

"Hey!" I yell at them. "I'm not that bad"

"Whatever you say Rose," Adrian chimes in, earning a dirty look from Sydney.

She was probably mad that he would talk to me, but he wouldn't even speak to her or try to work things out. I could tell they both wanted to fix things, but she was not going to make it easy for Adrian to win her back. I kind of felt sorry for him—kind of.

**"Wait," he said, as she reached the door. The sarcasm disappeared from his voice. **

"Really," Eddie said, "I have never heard the sarcasm leave from your voice."

"He must have been really desperate for you to stay Lissa," Mia adds.

"No, I just wanted some company," Christian says defensively. "No one ever talked to me. I was always alone. Remember," he adds darkly.

"Sure," Eddie says sarcastically, "it had nothing to do with the huge crush you had on her."

**"What…um, what was it like?"**

**"What was **_**what **_**like?" she snapped.**

"Wow, way to go lover boy," Adrian says. "You've accomplished making her mad how many times during this meeting. So far you are not off to a good start."

"Shut up," Christian snaps at him.

"No need to get defensive Christian," I say to him. "We are just offering constructive criticism. From the looks of it you were doing just fine on your own," I add with a smirk.

Christian just rolls his eyes at me and looks at Olena and asks her to continue reading, but not before he made a comment of his own.

"I shouldn't even be receiving your '_constructive criticism' _because this was supposed to be a private meeting. You," he says looking at me, "were not supposed to witness it."

**"Being out there. Away from the Academy."**

"It was really fun, but I don't know why you asked Christian," Lissa says. "You had already lived among humans with Tasha after your parents _died_."

"Just curious, and I was just trying to start a conversation," he answers.

**She hesitated for a moment before answering, caught off guard by what seemed like a genuine attempt at conversation. "It was great. No one knew who I was. I was just another face. Not Moroi. Not royal. Not anything." **

"Do you not like being Moroi and royal?" Karolina asks Lissa.

"It's not that. It's just that it becomes strenuous sometimes, and I didn't—and still don't—really like all the games royals like to play," Lissa responds.

"Oh, well, I can see why you would feel that way then. Mom you can continue reading."

**She looked down at the floor. "Everyone here thinks they know who I am."**

**"Yeah. It's kind of hard to outlive your past," he said bitterly.**

"For two people who seem like polar opposites you two really seem to have a lot in common," my mother notes.

"Yeah, one's gothic and one's angelic. How different can they really be," I say sarcastically.

"Rose," Lissa chastises.

**It occurred to Lissa at that moment—and me too by default—just how hard it might be to be Christian. **

"No, it's a cake walk to be me," Christian says snarkily, and Tasha looks at him with empathy. I forgot they were pariahs in the Moroi world.

**Most of the time, people treated him like he didn't exist. Like he was a ghost. They didn't talk to or about him. They just didn't notice him. The stigma of his parents' crime was too strong, casting its shadow onto the entire Ozera family.**

"Not the entire Ozera family, just our part of it," Tasha says bitterly.

**Still, he'd pissed her off, and she wasn't about to feel sorry for him.**

**"Wait—is this your pity party now?"**

**He laughed, almost approvingly. "This room has been my pity party for a year now."**

"Sorry Christian, Lissa was there before you," I say.

He just ignores this, so I turn my attention back to Olena as she continues reading.

**"Sorry," said Lissa snarkily. "I was coming here before I left. I've got a longer claim."**

"I thought snarkiness was Christian's thing," Eddie says.

"It is," I say.

"I guess being around Christian for only five minutes give or take, had an effect on her already," Mia says.

**"Squatters' rights. Besides, I have to make sure I stay near the chapel as much as possible so people know I haven't gone Strigoi…yet." Again, the bitter tone rang out.**

"You must have really trusted Lissa to tell her all of that. That seems like something you wouldn't want to talk about," Sonya says.

"Yeah," he says, "I guess I did trust her."

Lissa smiles at Christian and kisses him for a few seconds, and it took everything in me not to throw up.

"Can you two stop so we can finish reading?" I ask disgusted. I had witnessed more of their love life than I ever cared to see and I did not want to see it materialize before my eyes.

"Rose considering what I heard coming from you and Belikov's room last night, you have no room to talk," Christian says to me.

"At least we had enough sense and couth to do it behind closed doors and not where everyone could see," I retort. Then a shocking thought occurred to me. "Christian," I say in a sickly sweet voice, "did you spy on me and Dimitri last night?"

"No," he said defensively. "I just happened to be passing by and I stopped to hear what you were talking about, but I got more than I bargained for," he said horrified.

"I bet you did," I say under my breath. "Christian, I will let you off the hook this time, but if it happens again then I will kill you."

"Sure," he says unimpressed.

After Olena got over the shock of hearing about her son's sex life she continued reading. Abe looked indifferent. I guess he expected we would be sexually involved, but my mother, on the other hand, looked just as shocked as Olena. Considering the fact that I was a virgin in the book we were reading I'm sure she was trying to figure out when I lost my virginity. _Oh shit! _I thought to myself. We would have to read about the lust charm, and if we had to read about that then I'm sure we would read about the time I _actually _lost my virginity. Shit, I thought again. I would have to find a way out of here when we got to those parts in the book, especially the lust charm since it happened first, and probably in _this_ book. Shit, I mentally cursed again.

**"I used to always see you at mass. Is that the only reason you go? To look good?" **

"Of course it is," Sydney says. This probably reinforced her thoughts about us all being evil creatures of the night, but I think her opinion of us has altered drastically. She is—or was, rather—dating a Moroi. She can't still possibly think that, can she?

**Strigoi couldn't enter holy ground. More of that sinning-against-the-world thing.**

**"Sure," he said. "Why else go? For the good of your **_**soul?"**_

"Of course. That's why you are supposed to go," Sydney said in exasperation.

"I agree with Sydney," Olena says. "That's why I go."

Sydney gave her a small smile, and Olena continued reading.

**"Whatever," said Lissa, who clearly had a different opinion. "I'll leave you alone then."**

"Good for you," Sydney says. "I knew there was a reason I liked you so well."

**"Wait," he said again. He didn't seem to want her to go. "I'll make you a deal. You can hang out here too if you tell me one thing."**

"I wonder what that could be," Adrian says.

"How about you shut up so everyone else can find out too," I say to him.

**"What?" She glanced back at him.**

**He leaned forward. "Of all the rumors I heard about you today—and believe me, I heard plenty, even if no one actually told them to me—there was one that didn't come up very much. They dissected everything else: why you left, what you did out there, why you came back, the specialization, what Rose said to Mia, blah, blah, blah. And in all of that, no one, no one ever questioned that stupid story that Rose told about there being all sorts of fringe humans who let you take blood."**

"Someone knows the truth," Viktoria says amused.

**She looked away, and I could feel her cheeks starting to burn. "It's not stupid. Or a story."**

"Sure it's not," Christian says also amused.

**He laughed softly. "I've lived with humans. My aunt and I stayed away after my parents…died. It's not that easy to find blood." When she didn't answer, he laughed again. **

"How is that funny?" Abe asked outraged.

"She basically told me I was right without actually telling me I was right," Christian answers with fear in his voice. He was probably afraid Abe would break his knee caps or whatever he did.

**"It was Rose, wasn't it? She fed you."**

**A renewed fear shot through both her and me. No one at school could know about that. Kirova and the guardians on the scene knew, but they'd kept that knowledge to themselves.**

**"Well. If that's not friendship, I don't know what it is," he said.**

"I agree," Mia says. "I don't think I have any friends that would have done that for me."

**"You can't tell anyone," she blurted out.**

"I kind of figured that out already considering you two lied about it. Plus, who was I going to tell. I wasn't exactly mister popular," Christian says out loud.

**This was all we needed. As I'd just been reminded, feeders were vampire-bite addicts. We accepted that as part of life but still looked down on them for it. For anyone else **_**especially **_**a dhampir—letting a Moroi take blood from you was almost, well, dirty. In fact, one of the kinkiest, practically pornographic things a dhampir could do was let a Moroi drink blood during sex.**

**Lissa and I hadn't had sex, of course, but we'd both known what others would think of me feeding her.**

"If you two ever decide to have sex, record it and send me a copy so I can see," Adrian says, earning glares from me, Lissa, Dimitri, Christian, Sydney, Abe, and my mother. "Wait…what did I say?" he asks bemused.

I continue glaring at him, as do Sydney, Dimitri, Abe and Christian. Olena begins reading again to try to ease the tension in the room.

**"Don't tell anyone," Lissa repeated.**

**He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets and sat down on one of the crates. "Who am I going to tell? Look, go grab the window seat. You can have it today and hang out for a while. If you're not still afraid of me."**

**She hesitated, studying him. **

Christian looked hurt over the fact that she had to contemplate whether he would hurt her or not.

**He looked dark and surly, lips curled in a sort of I'm-such-a-rebel smirk. But he didn't look too dangerous. He didn't look Strigoi. **

"Because I wasn't and I'm still not," Christian yells.

"Sorry," Lissa says to him, and he calms down and takes his seat beside her.

**Gingerly, she sat back down in the window seat, unconsciously rubbing her arms against the cold.**

**Christian watched her, and a moment later, the air warmed up considerably.**

**Lissa met Christian's eyes and smiled, surprised she'd never noticed how icy blue they were before. **

"I guess you did something right because she _is _checking you out," Adrian says.

"I wasn't checking him out," Lissa argues defensively.

"Sure you weren't," Eddie says.

**"You specialized in fire?"**

"He sure does, and his abilities go way beyond being able to heat a room. We'll see more of that later though," I say slyly.

Christian shoots me a dirty look, and Viktoria asks, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out later," Christian says dryly, and I begin to laugh remembering the incident in question. Eddie, Mia, and Lissa also know what I am talking about and they begin laughing too.

**He nodded and pulled up a broken chair. "Now we have luxury accommodations."**

Adrian snickers at Christian's sarcasm.

**I snapped out of the vision.**

"Finally," Christian says. "I didn't think you were ever going to leave. Now we can talk without everyone hearing our conversation," he adds bitterly.

"Now you know how I feel. This entire series is in my perspective," I say.

"I feel sorry for you Rose, and I never thought I would say that," Christian says.

**"Rose? Rose?"**

**Blinking, I focused on Dimitri's face. He was leaning toward me, his hands gripping my shoulders. **

"Aren't you a little bit too close?" Adrian asks.

"Are you jealous," Eddie asks.

"No," Adrian replies. "I was just stating a fact."

"Whatever," Sydney says. "Ms. Belikova can you continue reading?"

**I'd stopped walking; we stood in the middle of the quad separating the upper school buildings.**

**"Are you all right?"**

"She stopped walking and she was staring into space at nothing. Do you think she is alright?" Adrian asks under his breath.

Dimitri pretended not to hear this and kept his attention on his mother. Wow, he really had more self-control than I did because I would be cursing Adrian out right now.

**"I…yeah. I was…I was with Lissa…" I put a hand to my forehead. I'd never had such a long or clear experience like that. "I was in her head."**

"I wish you hadn't been," Lissa says. "That is an invasion of privacy. You shouldn't do that."

"It's not like I did it on purpose," I say.

"I hope you don't decide to do it on purpose," she says.

"We'll find out," I say to her.

**"Her…head?"**

"Duh, isn't that what she just said Belikov," Adrian says smugly.

"Ivashkov, keep your unwanted comments to yourself," Dimitri replies.

"Yeah, well keep your…your… You know what just forget it!"

**"Yeah. It's part of the bond." I didn't really feel like elaborating.**

**"Is she all right?"**

**"Yeah, she's…" I hesitated. **_**Was **_**she all right? **

Christian threw his arms up in exasperation. "I'm not that bad. You make me seem like some dangerous, psychotic killer."

"Who knows," I say. "You could have been," I add, just to piss him off.

"Rose, please leave Christian alone," Lissa says.

"Fine, but not for long, and only because you asked so nicely."

**Christian Ozera had just invited her to hang out with him. Not good. There was "coasting through the middle," and then there was turning to the dark side. **

"Dark side? Rose don't you think you are being a little over dramatic?" Eddie asks.

"No," I say. "I was just looking out for her like I always do."

"Sure you were," Mia says. "This had nothing to do with the fact that _you _didn't like Christian at the time."

"Maybe just a little," I say.

"A little," Christian exclaims incredulously. "Rose, no need to be so honest," he says sarcastically.

"No problem," I say, and Christian rolls his eyes.

**But the feelings humming through our bond were no longer scared or upset. She was almost content, though still a little nervous. **

"See, there is nothing to worry about. I made her happy," Christian says triumphantly.

"You always make me happy," Lissa corrects him.

"And you always—," Christian says.

"Enough of the lovey dovey stuff. Olena can you please continue reading?" I interrupt.

Christian shoots me a glare, but he doesn't say anything. Good. He better not. However, I would love an excuse to kick his ass.

**"She's not in danger," I finally said. I hoped.**

"She was never in any danger from _me _to begin with," Christian says.

"What does he mean by that?" Abe asks.

"You'll find out later," I say to him.

**"Can you keep going?"**

**The hard, stoic warrior I'd met earlier was gone—just for a moment—and he actually looked concerned. Truly concerned. Feeling his eyes on me like that made something flutter inside of me—which was stupid, of course. **

"Rose, you've know Dimitri for less than a week and you already have a crush on him," Mia says.

"I don't have a crush on him. I just think he's hot," I say defensively.

"No need to lie, Rose," Viktoria says.

I shoot her a glare and she just rolls her eyes and asks her mother to continue reading.

**I had no reason to get all goofy, just because the man was too good-looking for his own good. **

"See, there's proof. I don't have a crush on him. I just think he is hot," I say.

This made everyone in the room roll their eyes and I heard Adrian mutter under his breath, "Yet."

**After all, he was an antisocial god, according to Mason. One who was supposedly going to leave me in all sorts of pain.**

"Did he?" Sonya asks.

"Hell yeah," I reply—much to everyone's amusement. "I'm glad I humor you all."

**"Yeah. I'm fine."**

**I went into the gym's dressing room and changed into the workout clothes someone had finally thought to give me after a day of practicing in jeans and a T-shirt. Gross. Lissa hanging out with Christian troubled me, but I shoved that thought away for later as my muscles informed me they did not want to go through any more exercise today.**

"I bet they didn't, especially considering the beatings you took in practice that day and the day before that," Eddie says.

"Mia, could you please keep your boyfriend quiet," I say succeeding in my attempt to embarrass him because he turned bright red, as did Mia.

**So I suggested to Dimitri that maybe he should let me off this time.**

My mother laughs at this. "I'm sure he was more than happy to comply," she says sarcastically, and I was caught off guard because I didn't know she could be sarcastic.

**He laughed, and I was pretty sure it was **_**at **_**me and not **_**with **_**me.**

"Looks like I was right again," my mother says.

**"Why is that funny?"**

**"Oh," he said, his smile dropping. "You were serious."**

"Hell yeah I was serious," I shout.

"Rose, sit down," Dimitri says to me, ignoring my outburst.

**"Of course I was! Look, I've technically been awake for **_**two **_**days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me go to bed," I whined. "It's just one hour."**

"There's a lot you can learn in an hour," Dimitri says to me before turning back to his mother.

**He crossed his arms and looked down at me. His earlier concern was gone. He was all business now. Tough love. "How do you feel right now? After the training you've done so far?"**

"I'm sure she feels just peachy," Adrian says. "How do you think she feels? She probably feels like crap."

"That _is_ how I felt actually," I say.

**"I hurt like hell."**

"I bet you do," Abe says.

**"You'll feel worse tomorrow."**

"Was that supposed to make her feel better?" Olena asks her son.

"No, but you'll hear my reasoning in a few seconds," he responds.

**"So?"**

**"So, better to jump in now while you still feel…not as bad."**

Eddie and Christian laugh.

"Rose you were right about the tough love mentor thing," Christian says still laughing.

**"What kind of logic is that?" I retorted.**

**But I didn't argue anymore as he led me into the weight room. He showed me the weights and reps he wanted me to do, then sprawled in a corner with a battered Western novel. Some god.**

"Western novel?" Christian asks raising an eyebrow. How is it that he can do that, but I can't. Life is so unfair.

"Yes," I say. "Are you hard of hearing?"

"I wasn't talking to you," Christian says.

"You are now," I retort.

"Christian, I am sure it will be explained why I like them so much later on in the book, so if you don't mind can we continue reading?" Dimitri asks.

"Sure," Christian says, shooting daggers at me.

**When I finished, he stood beside me and demonstrated a few cool-down stretches.**

**"How'd you end up as Lissa's guardian?" I asked. "You weren't here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school?"**

"If he was you probably wouldn't have left," Eddie says, no doubt in retaliation to what I said about him and Mia earlier.

I just decide to ignore the comment and focus all my attention on Dimitri's mother.

**He didn't answer right away. I got the feeling he didn't talk about himself very often. **

"I didn't. Antisocial. Remember," he says.

**"No. I attended the one in Siberia."**

**"Whoa. That's got to be the only place worse than Montana."**

"It's not a bad as I thought," I say.

"And how do you know that?" Jill asks. I think she is about the only person in the room who didn't know about me dropping out of school to hunt down Dimitri.

"You'll find out somewhere in this series," I say to her.

**A glint of something—maybe amusement—sparked in his eyes, but he didn't acknowledge the joke.**

**"After I graduated, I was a guardian for a Zeklos lord. He was killed recently." **

"Was he killed on your watch?" Christian asked.

"You'll find out," Dimitri says. "Rose had the same question."

**His smile dropped, his face grew dark. "They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I'd already be around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus."**

**I thought about what he'd said before. Some Strigoi killed the guy he was supposed to have been guarding? "Did this lord die on your watch?"**

"I guess Rose isn't as clueless as I once thought. She did have enough sense to ask that question," Christian says.

I shoot him a glare and he turns a shade paler.

**"No. He was with his other guardian. I was away."**

**He fell silent, his mind obviously somewhere else. The Moroi expected a lot from us, but they did recognize that the guardians were—more or less—only human. **

Sydney snorted at this comment.

**So, guardians got pay and time off like you'd get in any other job. Some hard-core guardians—like my mom—refused vacations, vowing never to leave their Moroi's sides. **

My mother nodded her head.

**Looking at Dimitri now, I had a feeling he might very well turn into one of those. If he'd been away on legitimate leave, he could hardly blame himself for what happened to that guy. Still, he probably did anyway. I'd blame myself too if something happened to Lissa.**

Lissa turned to me and said, "Rose if something happens to me and you aren't there when it happens you can't blame yourself for it."

"Yes, I can, and I will," I say.

**"Hey," I said, suddenly wanting to cheer him up, "did you help come up with the plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that."**

"How that is supposed to cheer him up I have no idea," Christian says sarcastically.

"Shut up," I say to him through clenched teeth.

**He arched an eyebrow curiously. Cool. I'd always wished I could do that. **

Christian and Dimitri arched an eyebrow at this. Dimitri did it probably because he had never known that and he found it intriguing, but Christian did it—I'm sure—just to piss me off.

**"You're complimenting me on that?"**

**"Well, it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they tried."**

"What last one?" Alberta questioned. "That was the first time we found you in Portland."

My mother and Abe's heads abruptly turned to face Alberta.

"What do you mean that was the first time _you _found them?" Abe inquires. "Who else would have been looking for them?"

"You'll find out later in the book," Alberta says bitterly. She must be remembering what occurred with Victor and Lissa.

**"Last one?"**

**"Yeah. In Chicago .With the pack of psi-hounds."**

"Psi-hounds!" my mother exclaims. "Who sent psi-hounds after you two?"

"You'll find out later," I say in a tone matching Alberta's.

**"This was the first time we found you. In Portland ."**

**I sat up from my stretches and crossed my legs. "Um, I don't think I imagined psi-hounds. Who else could have sent them? They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it."**

"What Moroi would be looking for—," Abe's sentence came to an abrupt stop. I guess he had figured it out. One thing I could say about Abe was that he was not stupid. He had finally put two and two together. A Moroi searching for us and our hatred for Victor and his daughter. He must have figured out it had been Victor who sent the psi-hound after us. The only thing he didn't know was why, and with him being as clever as he is I'm sure he'll figure it out before everyone else does.

**"Maybe," he said dismissively. I could tell by his face he didn't believe that.**

"I didn't," Dimitri says.

**I returned to the novices' dorm after that. The Moroi students lived on the other side of the quad, closer to the commons. The living arrangements were partly based on convenience. Being here kept us novices closer to the gym and training grounds. But we also lived separately to accommodate the differences in Moroi and dhampir lifestyles. Their dorm had almost no windows, aside from tinted ones that dimmed sunlight. They also had a special section where feeders always stayed on hand. The novices' dorm was built in a more open way, allowing for more light.**

"Thank god because I rarely saw any of that," I say, and all the other dhampirs in the room nod their heads in agreement.

**I had my own room because there were so few novices, let alone girls. The room they'd given me was small and plain, with a twin bed and a desk with a computer.**

"A computer?" Viktoria questions. "You do know she can use that to communicate with Lissa right?"

"My sentiments exactly," I say.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Alberta says, hitting her forehead.

**My few belongings had been spirited out of Portland and now sat in boxes around the room. I rummaged through them, pulling out a T-shirt to sleep in. I found a couple of pictures as I did, one of Lissa and me at a football game in Portland and another taken when I'd gone on vacation with her family, a year before the accident.**

"That must have been fun," Mia says.

"It was," Lissa says.

**I set them on my desk and booted up the computer. Someone from tech support had helpfully given me a sheet with instructions for renewing my e-mail account and setting up a password. I did both, happy to discover no one had realized that this would serve as a way for me to communicate with Lissa. **

"Told you so," Viktoria says.

I smile at her. Wow, we really do think alike.

**Too tired to write to her now, I was about to turn everything off when I noticed I already had a message. From Janine Hathaway. It was short:**

**I'm glad you're back. What you did was inexcusable.**

"Our daughter had been missing for two years and that's all you could think to say to her," Abe says outraged.

"It covered everything, plus we didn't have a very good relationship," my mother says to him.

"I can see why," I heard Abe mutter under his breath.

**"Love you too, Mom," I muttered, shutting it all down.**

"I love you too, Rose," my mother mutters back.

**When I went to bed afterward, I passed out before even hitting the pillow, and just as Dimitri had predicted, I felt ten times worse when I woke up the next morning. **

"I told you so," Dimitri says.

"Don't rub it in," I retort.

**Lying there in bed, I reconsidered the perks of running away. Then I remembered getting my ass kicked and figured the only way to prevent that from happening again was to go endure some more of it this morning.**

"That's my girl," Abe says.

**My soreness made it all that much worse, but I survived the before-school practice with Dimitri and my subsequent classes without passing out or fainting.**

**At lunch, I dragged Lissa away from Natalie's table early and gave her a Kirova-worthy lecture about Christian—particularly chastising her for letting him know about our blood arrangement. **

"She didn't do it on purpose. He figured it out," Adrian says to me.

"Yeah, whatever, Adrian," I say.

**If that got out, it'd kill both of us socially and I didn't trust him not to tell.**

"You didn't trust me at all," Christian says, pretending to be hurt.

**Lissa had other concerns.**

**"You were in my head again?" she exclaimed. "For **_**that **_**long?"**

**"I didn't do it on purpose," I argued. "It just happened. And that's not the point. How long did you hang out with him afterward?"**

"That's none of your business," Christian says angrily.

**"Not that long. It was kind of…fun."**

"See, I'm good for her," he says.

**"Well, you can't do it again. If people find out you're hanging out with him, they'll crucify you." I eyed her warily. "You aren't, like, into him, are you?"**

**She scoffed. "No. Of course not."**

Christian frowned but then he cheered up again and said, "At least not yet."

I roll my eyes at him.

**"Good. Because if you're going to go after a guy, steal Aaron back." He was boring, yes, but safe. Just like Natalie. **

"Huh, Natalie, safe. How dumb was I?" I say out loud.

"What does that mean," Olena asks me.

"You'll find out later," Dimitri says to his mother.

**How come all the harmless people were so lame? Maybe that was the definition of safe.**

"It _is _actually," Sydney says.

**She laughed. "Mia would claw my eyes out."**

**"We can take her. Besides, he deserves someone who doesn't shop at Gap Kids."**

"I don't shop at Gap Kids," Mia gasps.

"Sure you don't," I say.

**"Rose, you've got to stop saying things like that."**

"Thank you Lissa," Mia says.

**"I'm just saying what you won't."**

**"She's only a year younger," said Lissa. She laughed. "I can't believe you think **_**I'm **_**the one who's going to get us in trouble."**

"Lissa getting you guys into trouble. That was an absurd idea. I can't even fathom that," Dimitri says. "But Rose, I can see you getting into trouble. You did actually get into trouble."

"What can I say? I'm a trouble magnet."

"That you are," Adrian says.

**Smiling as we strolled toward class, I gave her a sidelong glance. "Aaron does look pretty good though, huh?"**

**She smiled back and avoided my eyes. "Yeah. Pretty good."**

**"Ooh. You see? You should go after him."**

"No you shouldn't," Janine says. "Lissa that is wrong."

"I know," Lissa says, looking down at her hands because she did indeed steal Aaron back.

**"Whatever. I'm fine being friends now."**

**"Friends who used to stick their tongues down each other's throats."**

Christian didn't look to happy with this statement. I would have been pissed off too if I had been reading about Dimitri sticking his tongue down some girls throat.

**She rolled her eyes.**

**"Fine." I let my teasing go. "Let Aaron stay in the nursery school. Just so long as you stay away from Christian. He's dangerous."**

**"You're overreacting. He's not going Strigoi."**

"I sure am not," Christian says.

**"He's a bad influence."**

"No he's not," Tasha says glaring at me.

"Why," I say to her, "in the hell are you glaring at me."

"Rose," Dimitri warns, "calm down." He placed a calming hand over mine and Tasha's glare intensified. Me insulting Christian isn't the only reason she's pissed.

"Mom, can you please continue reading," Dimitri says.

**She laughed. "You think **_**I'm **_**in danger of going Strigoi?"**

**She didn't wait for my answer, instead pushing ahead to open the door to our science class. Standing there, I uneasily replayed her words and then followed a moment later. When I did, I got to see royal power in action. A few guys—with giggling, watching girls—were messing with a gangly-looking Moroi. I didn't know him very well, but I knew he was poor and certainly not royal. A couple of his tormentors were air-magic users, and they'd blown the papers off his desk and were pushing them around the room on currents of air while the guy tried to catch them.**

"Air is not an element to be played with," Lissa says bitterly.

**My instincts urged me to do something, maybe go smack one of the air users. But I couldn't pick a fight with everyone who annoyed me, and certainly not a group of royals—especially when Lissa needed to stay off their radar. **

"You're not as volatile as I thought," Mia says.

**So I could only give them a look of disgust as I walked to my desk. As I did, a hand caught my arm. Jesse.**

**"Hey," I said jokingly. Fortunately, he didn't appear to be participating in the torture session. "Hands off the merchandise."**

**He flashed me a smile but kept his hand on me. **

"I will tear him limb from limb. You just say the word," Abe says.

"Your services will not be required," I say to him.

**"Rose, tell Paul about the time you started the fight in Ms. Karp's class."**

"Which one?" Eddie asks. "She started so many fights in that class."

"Was that really necessary, Rose," Mikhail asked.

**I cocked my head toward him, giving him a playful smile. "I started a lot of fights in her class."**

**"The one with the hermit crab. And the gerbil."**

My mother looked at me incredulously. Abe on the other hand, looked very amused.

**I laughed, recalling it. "Oh yeah. It was a hamster, I think. I just dropped it into the crab's tank, and they were both worked up from being so close to me, so they went at it."**

Viktoria laughed at this. "I can imagine you doing something like that," she says, but Karolina and Sonya just shook their heads, along with Dimitri and my mother.

**Paul, a guy sitting nearby whom I didn't really know, chuckled too. He'd transferred last year, apparently, and hadn't heard of this. "Who won?"**

**I looked at Jesse quizzically. "I don't remember. Do you?"**

**"No. I just remember Karp freaking out." He turned toward Paul. "Man, you should have seen this messed-up teacher we used to have. Used to think people were after her and would go off on stuff that didn't make any sense. She was nuts. Used to wander campus while everyone was asleep."**

Mikhail stiffened and his hands balled up into fists. He must take it personally whenever someone talks bad about Ms. Karp—she was the love of his life after all. I would feel and do the same thing if someone said that about Dimitri.

**I smiled tightly, like I thought it was funny. Instead, I thought back to Ms. Karp again, surprised to be thinking about her for the second time in two days. Jesse was right—she **_**had **_**wandered campus a lot when she still worked here. It was pretty creepy. I'd run into her once—unexpectedly.**

"Why am I not surprised?" my mother says.

**I'd been climbing out of my dorm window to go hang out with some people. It was after hours, and we were all supposed to be in our rooms, fast asleep. Such escape tactics were a regular practice for me. I was good at them.**

Abe smiled at me and nodded his head in approval. My mother shot him a glare and punched him in the arm. He looked at her incredulously, but continued to listen to Olena read. I bet she was the only person who could hit him without reaping some form of retaliation. Let anyone else try it and they would be six feet under.

**But I fell that time. **

"The great Rose Hathaway was taken down by a building. Classic," Christian comments.

**I had a second-floor room, and I lost my grip about halfway down. Sensing the ground rush up toward me, I tried desperately to grab hold of something and slow my fall. The building's rough stone tore into my skin, causing cuts I was too preoccupied to feel. I slammed into the grassy earth, back first, getting the wind knocked out of me.**

**"Bad form, Rosemarie. You should be more careful. Your instructors would be disappointed."**

"We really would," Alberta said.

**Peering through the tangle of my hair, I saw Ms. Karp looking down at me, a bemused look on her face. Pain, in the meantime, shot through every part of my body.**

**Ignoring it as best I could, I clambered to my feet. Being in class with Crazy Karp while surrounded by other students was one thing. Standing outside alone with her was an entirely different matter. She always had an eerie, distracted gleam in her eye that made my skin break out in goose bumps.**

Mikhail flinched and I regretted my words.

**There was also now a high likelihood she'd drag me off to Kirova for a detention. Scarier still.**

**Instead, she just smiled and reached for my hands. I flinched but let her take them. She **_**tsk**_**ed when she saw the scrapes. Tightening her grip on them, she frowned slightly. A tingle burned my skin, laced with a sort of pleasant buzz, and then the wounds closed up. I had a brief sense of dizziness. My temperature spiked. The blood disappeared, as did the pain in my hip and leg.**

"She healed you," Lissa and Adrian exclaimed together.

"Yeah, she did," I say. "Too bad I didn't know that at the time."

**Gasping, I jerked my hands away. I'd seen a lot of Moroi magic, but never anything like that.**

**"What…what did you do?"**

**She gave me that weird smile again. "Go back to your dorm, Rose. There are bad things out here. You never know what's following you."**

"I used to think the same thing," Lissa says softly. Christian grabs her hands and squeezes them tight and I can feel her mood brighten.

**I was still staring at my hands. "But…"**

**I looked back up at her and for the first time noticed scars on the sides of her forehead. Like nails had dug into them. **

"She never told me specifically why she did that. She just said it helped ease the pain and distress," Mikhail says.

I gave him a sympathetic look and he gave me a small smile in return.

**She winked. "I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me."**

**I jumped back to the present, unsettled by the memory of that bizarre night. Jesse, in the meantime, was telling me about a party.**

**"You've got to slip your leash tonight. We're going up to that spot in the woods around eight thirty. Mark got some weed."**

"You are definitely not going to that party," my mother says.

"I don't really have a choice, do I," I ask.

**I sighed wistfully, regret replacing the chill I'd felt over the memory of Ms. Karp. "Can't slip that leash. I'm with my Russian jailer."**

"Russian jailer," Dimitri says amused.

**He let go of my arm, looking disappointed, and ran a hand through his bronze-colored hair. Yeah. Not being able to hang out with him was a damned shame. I really would have to fix that someday. **

"I wish I hadn't," I say.

"Me too," Lissa says.

**"Can't you ever get off for good behavior?" he joked.**

"When has Rose ever been good?" Eddie asked.

"I have to agree with Eddie on that one," Viktoria says.

"Love you guys too," I say sarcastically.

**I gave him what I hoped was a seductive smile as I found my seat. "Sure," I called over my shoulder. "If I was ever good."**

"That was the end of the chapter," Olena says. "Who wants to read next?"

"I'll read next," Jill says.

Olena hands Jill the book and we all settle in to hear another chapter.

"Chapter six," Jill begins.

**That was chapter five. I hope you guys liked it. I will try to update as soon as possible. Review and tell me what you think. Don't forget to continue telling me who you want to read the lust charm chapter. Your opinion does count. **

**R&R **

**I will try to update as soon as possible.**

**And as always, I apologize for any grammar mistakes there may be. **


	7. Chapter 6

_**Important A/N: Please read**_

**I was reading my reviews, and all of you were telling me who you wanted to read the lust charm chapter, so I decided to create a poll. The person with the most votes by the time I begin working on that chapter will be the one to read it. If you want your opinion heard go to my profile and vote. Only the person with the most votes in the poll will read the lust charm chapter. If the person you want to read that chapter is not listed then send me a message and I will add him or her to the poll. Some of you also said you wanted Sydney and Adrian to get back together, so I created another poll so you could vote on whether they get back together or not. This poll will appear on my profile after a few more chapters. Someone also said that I should continue the series after I am done with **_**Vampire Academy**_**. This poll will go up when I have finished the first book. If I have more yeses than nays by the time I finish this book I will continue the series. Oh, and I have been reading this really good fanfic entitled **_**My Milaya **_**by MaxieMoose, and it is absolutely awesome. You should read it if you haven't already.**

**I have been trying to reply to all of your reviews, but if I don't get to yours just know I appreciate the reviews and keep them coming. **

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own **_**Vampire Academy**_**. Richelle Mead does. **

"Chapter six," Jill begins to read.

**AS MUCH AS LISSA AND Christian's meeting bothered me, it gave me an idea the next day.**

"That doesn't sound good," Mia says.

"What do you mean?" I ask her innocently.

"That's how we know it's not good," Eddie says. "Did you all hear the way she said that? It screamed: I'm up to something!"

"I'm not up to anything," I retort.

"How about we let Jill read so we can find out," Lissa says.

**"Hey, Kirova—er, Ms. Kirova." **

"You corrected yourself and still got her name wrong," Christian says. "Aren't you supposed to call her _Headmistress _Kirova?"

"Shut up," I say to him. "Did it really matter what I called her?"

"Yeah, it did actually, especially considering the fact that she had the power to kick you out of school," Eddie says to me.

"Well she didn't, so you have nothing to worry about. And why don't you all shut up. I thought you wanted to know what brilliant idea I came up with," I say.

"We do," Christian says.

"Well, then act like it and close your mouths," I reply angrily.

**I stood in the doorway of her office, not having bothered to make an appointment. **

"When do you ever do things the right way?" Lissa asks.

"Never," I say with a knowing smile.

"That was a rhetorical question," Lissa says.

"I know. We're bonded, remember," I say.

"Then why did you—," Christian says, but stops himself and rolls his eyes.

**She raised her eyes from some paperwork, clearly annoyed to see me.**

"I'm never annoyed to see you," Adrian says, earning glares from Sydney and Dimitri. "What," he shouts, "she _is_ my friend."

"A friend that you think has a nice body and looks better than your girlfriend," I head Sydney say under her breath. By the looks of it, I was the only one who heard her comment.

She must still want him because she still considers herself his girlfriend. If Adrian had half a grain of sense he would fix things between them before they get worse.

**"Yes, Miss Hathaway?"**

**"Does my house arrest mean I can't go to church?"**

"That's your brilliant idea?" Christian asks.

"Yep," I say.

"What's so great about that?" he asks.

"It means that she can go to church and spend more time with Lissa," Viktoria says.

"Thank you," I say to her. "At least someone in this room has some sense."

"I have sense," Christian yells.

"Not much," I retort.

"Um, could you two stop arguing so I can continue reading," Jill says.

"Oh, yeah," Christian says.

"Sure thing, Jill," I say.

**"I beg your pardon?"**

**"You said that whenever I'm not in class or practice, I have to stay in the dorm. But what about church on Sundays? I don't think it's really fair to keep me away from my religious…um, needs." **

Sydney snorted. "Rose, it is not good to use God for your own personal gain. It never pays off," she says.

Now it was my turn to snort. "I don't believe that," I say.

"Neither do I," Janine says.

"Well it's true," Sydney says.

"It might be true, but Rose is the biggest sinner I know, so there is no way she is ever going to believe in God," Eddie says laughing.

"Hey," I say, "you don't believe in a higher being either."

"That wasn't my point," Eddie says. "My point was about you being the biggest sinner I know and how you would never buy into the fact that there is a God, or were you not listening."

To say that statement pissed me off would be an understatement. Just who in the hell did Eddie think he was. He can't just insult Rose Hathaway and get away with it. As soon as we get out of this room today I am going to make him pay. Big time. I'll probably even throw Mia into the equation just for the hell of it. Now that would be fun. I wonder who I could get to help me. Ah. Viktoria could help. It would be like having two Roses causing havoc. I can't wait for bedtime. Eddie you better watch out because Rose Hathaway is out for revenge.

**Or deprive me of another chance— no matter how short and boring—to hang out with Lissa.**

I saw Sydney cringe at the words short and boring, but she didn't say anything. Good because I have more important things to worry about. Like how I am going to get Eddie back, and use Mia to do it. They were definitely into each other. Maybe, just maybe, I could use that against them. The only thing left to do was figure out how. It's a good thing we have a while before we have to go to bed. I am going to need all the time I can get to come up with something good.

**She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I wasn't aware you had any religious needs."**

"Me either," Adrian said. "I like you better as the sinner you are."

"And I like you better when you keep your mouth shut," I retort, angry to have my thoughts interrupted.

"Little dhampir, there is no need for the attitude."

"Your right," I say, and I have the satisfaction of seeing Adrian stunned. I don't think there was ever a time when I told him he was right. "There is no need for the attitude." This caught everyone else off guard, even Abe and Yeva. Why the hell do they all find it so shocking that I told Adrian he was right? "Because you are going to shut up now and keep all your comments to yourself."

That last comment snapped everyone out of their momentary haze.

"Now _there's_ the Rose Hathaway we all know and love," Christian says sarcastically.

I ignore his comment and look towards Jill and motion for her to continue reading.

**"I found Jesus while I was gone."**

Christian snickered at this. "Kirova is dumber than I thought if she actually believed you," he says.

**"Isn't your mother an atheist?" she asked skeptically.**

"Why yes I am," my mother says.

**"And my dad's probably Muslim. But I've moved on to my own path. You shouldn't keep me from it."**

Abe gave me an amused look and I have no idea why. Wait…I can have Viktoria _and _Abe help me get back at Eddie. Abe was certainly good at what he does, and this seems right up his alley.

**She made a noise that sort of sounded like a snicker. "No, Miss Hathaway, I should not. Very well. You may attend services on Sundays."**

"I can't believe she actually conceded with your request," Mia said.

"Me either," Abe says. "That school of yours did a half-assed job about keeping you two separated," he says looking between Lissa and me.

"That all falls on Kirova's shoulders, not the school's," Alberta says to my father.

"Sure," he says dismissively turning his attention back to Jill—much to Alberta's displeasure.

**The victory was short-lived, however, because church was every bit as lame as I remembered when I attended a few days later. **

"I bet it was," Eddie said.

**I did get to sit next to Lissa, though, which made me feel like I was getting away with something. **

My mother snorted at this.

**Mostly I just people-watched. **

"Why is that not surprising," Dimitri says. "That's all you ever do."

I give him a knowing smile, and he rolls his eyes.

**Church was optional for students, but with so many Eastern European families, a lot of students were Eastern Orthodox Christians and attended either because they believed or because their parents made them.**

"Their parent's were miles away, how in the hell were they going to _make _them go to church," Christian says, earning a glare from Lissa and Sydney.

"I'm inclined to agree with Christian on that," I say, shocking myself.

"I think that's the first time you have ever agreed with me, Rose."

"Yeah, and it will probably be the last," I say.

**Christian sat on the opposite side of the aisle, pretending to be just as holy as he'd said. As much as I didn't like him, his fake faith still made me smile. **

Eddie and Mia laughed at this.

"I can just imagine Christian running up and down the aisles waving his arms in the air, stomping his feet, and praising God," Eddie says laughing.

Mia laughed harder at this, so did everyone else in the room after we imagined it ourselves. The look on Christian's face was priceless, and that made me, Lissa, Eddie, Mia, and Jill laugh harder.

When we finally pulled ourselves together I noticed Christian throwing all of us glares. Once his anger subsided, Jill continued to read, amusement evident in her voice.

**Dimitri sat in the back, face lined with shadows, and, like me, didn't take communion. As thoughtful as he looked, I wondered if he even listened to the service. **

"I listened to it more than you did," he says to me.

"I don't doubt that," I say, and Sydney shoots me a glare.

**I tuned in and out.**

"Of course you did," Sydney says disapprovingly.

I don't see why she's so worked up. I never claimed to be a saint. I'm far from it to tell you the truth.

**"Following God's path is never easy," the priest was saying. "Even St. Vladimir, this school's own patron saint, had a difficult time. He was so filled with spirit that people often flocked around him, enthralled just to listen and be in his presence. **

"That was because he was full of spirit, as in the element, not spirit as in the Holy Spirit," Adrian says, earning a disapproving look from Sydney.

"Sydney," Lissa says, "Adrian has a point. He's telling the truth. You shouldn't look at him like that. People flocking to him because they were enthralled to listen to him and be in his presence, was—and still is—one of spirits effects. It makes us extremely charismatic."

Sydney didn't say anything in response she just nodded and turned her attention back to Jill.

**So great was his spirit, the old texts say, that he could heal the sick. Yet despite these gifts, many did not respect him. They mocked him, claiming he was misguided and confused."**

"I bet those same people were the first to run to him whenever they got sick though," Christian says bitterly, and earns a nod from everyone in the room.

**Which was a nice way of saying Vladimir was insane. Everyone knew it. He was one of a handful of Moroi saints, so the priest liked to talk about him a lot. I'd heard all about him, many times over, before we left. Great. It looked like I had an eternity of Sundays to hear his story over and over again.**

"They actually turned out to be pretty helpful," I say. "I even researched it a little bit myself." With that everyone turned to look at me with astonishment written all over their faces. "What!" I exclaim. "Am I not allowed to look stuff up?"

"No, it's just out of character," Dimitri says.

I shot him and everyone else in the room a glare.

"Jill, you can continue reading now," I say.

**"…and so it was with shadow-kissed Anna."**

**I jerked my head up. **

"Something finally peaked your interest," Sydney says dryly.

**I had no idea what the priest was talking about now, because I hadn't been listening for some time. **

"Of course you hadn't," Sydney said matter-of-factly.

**But those words burned into me. **_**Shadow-kissed. **_**It had been a while since I heard them, but I'd never forgotten them. I waited, hoping he'd continue, but he'd already moved on to the next part of the service. The sermon was over.**

"It looks like it does help to pay attention sometimes," my mother says.

"Too bad Rose hadn't been," Eddie says, "but when does she ever," he adds, earning a chuckle from Dimitri.

I shot him a glare and he just ignores me.

**Church concluded, and as Lissa turned to go, I shook my head at her. "Wait for me. I'll be right there."**

"It looks like our dear old priest is in for a visit," Christian says jokingly.

**I pushed my way through the crowd, up to the front, where the priest was speaking with a few people. I waited impatiently while he finished. Natalie was there, asking him about volunteer work she could do. **

"Figures," Viktoria says.

**Ugh. When she finished, she left, greeting me as she passed.**

**The priest raised his eyebrows when he saw me. "Hello, Rose. It's nice to see you again."**

"That's the friendliest thing an adult has said to you yet," Eddie jokes.

After I thought about it for a few seconds I silently agreed.

**"Yeah…you too," I said. "I heard you talking about Anna. About how she was 'shadow-kissed.' What does that mean?"**

"You couldn't be any more subtle about letting him know you didn't listen to his message at all," Christian says sarcastically.

"I wanted to skip straight to the point," I say. "There was no need to waste anyone's time."

"For once in her life she thought about someone other than herself and Lissa," Christian says.

"And Belikov. We can't forget him," Adrian adds.

I was about ready to smack both of them. How dare they call me a cold-hearted bitch! That was like a verbal slap in the face, even if they hadn't said those words exactly. I would definitely have to have Abe and Viktoria help me get those two too.

**He frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. She lived a very long time ago. It was often common to refer to people by titles that reflected some of their traits. It might have been given to make her sound fierce."**

"Not even close," I say.

Dimitri's family gave me a questioning look. I forgot they weren't as familiar with spirit or with the term shadow-kissed.

"It will be explained later in this book," I say.

They didn't look too happy with my response, but they nodded their heads anyway.

**I tried to hide my disappointment. "Oh. So who was she?"**

**This time his frown was disapproving rather than thoughtful. "I mentioned it a number of times."**

"I'm sure it was," my mother says speaking about the frown on the priest's face. "I'd be mad too if I was asked a question I had already answered countless times. Rose you should really learn to pay attention."

**"Oh. I must have, um, missed that."**

**His disapproval grew, and he turned around. "Wait just a moment."**

"Where is he going," Abe asked suspiciously.

"To find some work for me to do," I say dryly.

"What kind of work," he asks.

"Listen, and you will find out," Janine says.

**He disappeared through the door near the altar, the one Lissa had taken to the attic. I considered fleeing but thought God might strike me down for that. **

"At least you believe in him a little bit," Sydney says.

"No I don't," I say, and she looks at me incredulously.

**Less than a minute later, the priest returned with a book. He handed it to me. **_**Moroi Saints.**_

"He gave _Rose_ a book," Christian says. "Why the hell would he give _her_ a book? There is no way she is going to read it. I would be surprised if she could read, especially seeing as how this book is in her point of view and she has not read one chapter."

"Christian this is your first and last warning, so I would advise you to shut up. Next time your warning will be in the form of me doing permanent damage to your face," I say to him.

"Whatever," he says.

"Christian I think you should take her seriously this time. I can tell she is not joking anymore. You are really pissing her off," Lissa says.

"He isn't _pissing _me off. He has already _pissed _me off," I shout.

"I told you," Lissa whispers to Christian. "Please, please stop making fun of Rose."

"Fine," Christian says in a recalcitrant manner.

**"You can learn about her in here. The next time I see you, I'd like to hear what you've learned."**

"Whoa! Rose you got homework from the priest. They should have let him punish you instead of Kirova because that must be like torture to you. He's making you do the two things you hate most: reading and homework," Eddie says with an amused expression.

Alberta laughs at Eddie's statement. "Castile, I think you're on to something. Too bad we didn't think of it. That would have been brilliant."

I shoot glares at both of them, and then I shoot one at Christian just for good measure. Then I mentally add a note to get back at Eddie as soon as possible.

"Hey!" Christian exclaims. "I didn't do anything to you. Why are you glaring at me?"

"I just felt like it. Do you have a problem with it?" I ask, and he doesn't respond. "Good. That's what I thought."

**I scowled as I walked away. Great. Homework from the priest.**

**In the chapel's entry way, I found Lissa talking to Aaron. **

"I smell trouble," Adrian says looking in Mia's direction.

She turns bright red and turns away from Adrian.

Laughing he says, "I was right. I knew it."

**She smiled as she spoke, and the feelings coming off her were happy, though certainly not infatuated.**

"That bastard," Christian mumbled under his breath.

"Looks like someone is mad another guy was capable of getting Lissa's attention when you were unsuccessful," I say, just to piss him off.

"Shut up, Rose," he says dangerously.

"What are you going to do, Christian? Set me on fire," I retort darkly. "Try that and _I'll _have the last laugh because you won't be alive much longer."

"Can you two please stop arguing? To be quite honest I'm tired of it," Lissa says.

"Fine," we both say reluctantly.

"Now, Jill, if you don't mind can you continue reading," Lissa says.

"Sure," she replies before reading again.

**"You're kidding," she exclaimed.**

**He shook his head. "Nope."**

"What were they talking about?" Viktoria asks.

"You'll find out soon enough," I say.

"Whatever," she says.

**Seeing me stroll over, she turned to me. "Rose, you're never going to believe this. "You know Abby Badica? And Xander? Their guardian wants to resign. And marry **_**another **_**guardian."**

"_I _don't see a problem with it," I say bitterly.

"Well I do," Tasha says. "Yeah, Moroi are lazy and need to help guardians fight, but guardians can't just give up their jobs because they want to run off and marry another guardian. They can't even have children, so what's the point," she exclaims.

Oh that bitch was in for it now. How dare she say that? You know what. I don't even think she was talking about Abby Badica and Xander's guardian. She was referring to me and Dimitri. It's not like we ran off and got married or anything, but we are living together, but we still do our duty.

"Bitch," I yell at her, "if you have something to say to me then say it to me, and don't try to camouflage it. Be a woman and say what you want to say to my face because I damn sure don't have any qualms about saying what I want to yours. If you don't like the fact that Dimitri and I are living together then just say so. It's not going to matter what your opinion is though because the decision has already been made, but if you want you are more than welcome to voice you opinion."

By the time I finished yelling at her I was on my feet and Dimitri was standing behind me trying to keep me from crossing the room and kicking Tasha's ass. "Rose," he says, "you are—,"

"How dare you call me a bitch," Tasha yells back at me. "And for your information I don't have a problem saying anything to your face. I just wanted to avoid this entire confrontation, but I did want to make my opinion known, just not in a way I thought you would understand."

Did that bitch just call me dumb? Oh, if Dimitri ever let me go I was going to bypass kicking her ass, I was going to go straight in for the kill.

"Did you just call me dumb?" I screech.

"Rose, please calm down," Lissa shouts over me. "Rose, please," she pleaded.

"Lissa that's not going to work," Dimitri shouts over me and Tasha. By now we were yelling at the same time, not processing what the other was saying. "You are going to need to compel them. Both of them," Dimitri says to Lissa.

"Okay, but Rose has a high resistance. I am going to need some help to compel her. Mia, Adrian, and Abe, I'm going to need your help for that. My compulsion will be stronger if you guys add yours to mine," she says, "but I will do Tasha first. Dimitri what do you want me to tell them to do?"

"Tell them to stop arguing, and then make them forget about what happened," he says.

"Okay," she says walking over to where Alberta had Tasha pinned to the ground.

"Make her face me," Lissa says.

"Okay," Alberta says moving Tasha into Lissa's line of eyesight.

"You dumb, sluty, blood whor—," Tasha yelled before the compulsion seized her and her eyes glazed over.

"You will stop arguing with Rose right now," Lissa says fiercely, "and you will forget about the entire argument and what you said to provoke it," she adds.

"Okay," Tasha says.

With that Lissa walks over to me with Abe, Mia, and Adrian close behind her.

"Dimitri, turn her to face me, and keep her mouth covered. We don't want Tasha to hear anything Rose says before the compulsion overtakes her. Tasha should come to any second now," Lissa tells him.

"Sure," he says complying to her every demand.

I was pissed. How dare Lissa of all people use compulsion on me?

"Adrian add your compulsion to mine, she isn't being seized by it at all," Lissa says.

I see Adrian step in front of me too, and he adds his compulsion to Lissa's, and I began to drift into a daze.

"It's working, but it's still not enough. Mia, help us," Lissa says.

Mia also steps in front of me and adds her compulsion to Lissa and Adrian's. Then I feel the compulsion take me over completely.

"Rose, you will stop fighting, and arguing now," Lissa says.

She sounded very reasonable. Me fighting and arguing was not going to help the situation, or make it better. She was right. I need to stop, but because Dimitri's hand was still over my mouth I just nod my head.

"And forget the argument and what started it, and once you come to don't try to read what happened through the bond," she sternly adds.

Again she sounded completely reasonable. I would forget it entirely because it was best if I didn't remember, and I wouldn't try to find out what happened by going to Lissa's mind and reading it through the bond because I didn't need to know. Then I felt the compulsion and the restraining hands over my mouth and torso lift. It took me a few seconds to completely regain full consciousness again, but I finally did.

"Rose, are you okay," I heard Olena and Lissa ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What just happened?" I ask them.

"It's best if you don't know," Dimitri informs me.

Then Lissa turns and walks toward Tasha, and speaks so low that only Tasha can hear her. She just nods her head at whatever Lissa asked, and Lissa returns to her seat, and rests her head on Christian's shoulder.

"Jill, can you continue reading?" Christian asks her.

"Sure," she says weakly.

I wonder what has everyone so worked up, and how I missed it. Oh, well, guess I just won't know.

**Now **_**this **_**was exciting gossip. A scandal, actually. "Seriously? Are they, like, going to run off together?"**

**She nodded. "They're getting a house. Going to get jobs with humans, I guess."**

**I glanced at Aaron, who had suddenly turned shy with me there. "How are Abby and Xander dealing with that?"**

**"Okay. Embarrassed. They think it's stupid." Then he realized who he was speaking to. "Oh. I didn't mean—"**

**"Whatever." I gave him a tight smile. "It **_**is **_**stupid."**

**Wow. I was stunned. The rebellious part me of loved any story where people "fought the system." Only, in this case, they were fighting **_**my **_**system, the one I'd been trained to believe in my entire life.**

"I can't believe Rose Hathaway is against someone fighting the system," Eddie says attempting to lighten the mood. "And why should the fact that they are fighting your system matter. You fight your system all the time," he adds, succeeding in lightening the mood and pissing me off.

"He's right," Adrian and Christian say at the same time.

"I agree," Mia says.

Now I knew for sure that I was going to have to get Eddie back. That son-of-a-bitch was going to pay.

**Dhampirs and Moroi had a strange arrangement. Dhampirs had originally been born from Moroi mixing with humans. **

Sydney shuddered at that thought.

**Unfortunately, dhampirs couldn't reproduce with each other—or with humans. **

"Why is that?" Sydney asks.

"We don't even know," Dimitri's sister Karolina answers her.

**It was a weird genetic thing. Mules were the same way, I'd been told, though that wasn't a comparison I really liked hearing. **

All the dhampirs in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

"Actually, the mule and Rose comparison is a good one. Both of them are extremely stubborn," Christian says.

Lissa, Jill, Mia, and Adrian had to stifle their giggles. The dhampirs still didn't like the mule expression, even when phrased that way. Abe didn't even find this funny, probably because I got my stubbornness from him.

**Dhampirs and full Moroi **_**could **_**have children together, and, through another genetic oddity, their kids came out as standard dhampirs, with half human genes, half vampire genes.**

Sydney had a bemused look plastered across her face, but I just shrugged my shoulders to let her know it wasn't something I understood either.

**With Moroi being the only ones with whom dhampirs could reproduce, we had to stay close to them and intermingle with them. Likewise, it became important to us that the Moroi simply **_**survived. **_

"That doesn't sound like a fair trade. You guys have to take on a career where you could possible die young. If you're dead how are you going to have children then?" Sydney asks.

"That is actually an excellent question," Lissa says. "I don't even know the answer to that."

"Well," Dimitri says, "Not all dhampirs choose to become guardians. Some—mostly the women—stay at home and raise their children. Because they do so, more dhampirs are able to be conceived. Even though most of our society looks down upon them for it, it is actually necessary. Without them our race would cease to exist, and if the dhampir race doesn't exist, neither does the Moroi race because they depend upon us to protect them."

"Very well put, Guardian Belikov," my mother says.

"I agree," Alberta says, and everyone else in the room nods their heads in agreement.

"Looks like Lissa may have a little competition for the biggest brain award," I tease.

**Without them, we were done. And with the way Strigoi loved picking off Moroi, their survival became a legitimate concern for us.**

"Which is why we protect them," I say to Sydney, "but even if that wasn't necessary I would protect Lissa anyway."

She shoots me a brilliant radiant smile, and I smile back in return.

**That was how the guardian system developed. Dhampirs couldn't work magic, but we made great warriors. We'd inherited enhanced senses and reflexes from our vampire genes and better strength and endurance from our human genes. **

"That's kind of what the tattoo does for us," Sydney says. "We _are _human, so we get the human genes, but the tattoo gives us longevity."

"I figured that out when you first told me about it," I say to Sydney.

"Oh," she says, "but I'm sure some people in here didn't know that," she says looking in Adrian's direction. He flashed her a smile and she rolled her eyes, and turned back to Jill.

**We also weren't limited by a need for blood or trouble with sunlight. **

"I wish we weren't limited in that way," Mia says.

"We!" Abe exclaims. "Speak for yourself. The sun has no effect on me."

"Old man, you are lying through your teeth," I say frostily. "The sun affects all Moroi, and you are no exception, no matter what you may think."

"Sure, Sure," he says.

**Sure, we weren't as powerful as the Strigoi, but we trained hard, and guardians did a kick-ass job at keeping Moroi safe. Most dhampirs felt it was worth risking their own lives to make sure our kind could still keep having children.**

All the guardians in the room nodded.

**Since Moroi usually wanted to have and raise Moroi children, you didn't find a lot of long-term Moroi-dhampir romances. **

"I fond one while I was in Russia," I say, "but I'm sure we will read all about that in one of the later books," I add bitterly. I did not want to think about my trip to Russia. It brought up a lot of bad memories, especially of Dimitri and me.

**You especially didn't find a lot of Moroi women hooking up with dhampir guys. **

I cut my eyes at Tasha, only to notice that she was staring at Dimitri with longing in her eyes. I decided not to do anything as long as she kept her hands to herself.

**But plenty of young Moroi men liked fooling around with dhampir women, although those guys usually went on to marry Moroi women. That left a lot of single dhampir mothers, but we were tough and could handle it.**

"_We _as in dhampirs, or _we _as in mothers?" my mother asks sternly.

"You and everyone else in this room know that I meant _we_ as in dhampir women. There is no way in hell I plain on being a mother anytime soon." I say to her satisfaction.

"That better be what you had meant," I hear Abe mutter under his breath.

**However, many dhampir mothers chose not to become guardians in order to raise their children. These women sometimes worked "regular" jobs with Moroi or humans; some of them lived together in communities. **

"And there is nothing wrong with that," Sonya says.

"I know that," I say to her. "After actually visiting a dhampir commune I saw first hand that they are not what most people make them out to be."

**These communities had a bad reputation. I don't know how much of it was true, but rumors said Moroi men visited **_**all the time **_**for sex, and that some dhampir women let them drink blood while doing it. Blood whores.**

Sonya cut me a look.

"Hey," I exclaim. "That's not what I think. I know for a fact that a lot of that stuff is untrue. Plus I said _some _dhampir let Moroi men do that, and that's true. While I was in Baia I did see some blood whores, but not many, so some of the rumors are true, but I know most dhampir women are not like that."

She just nodded her head and asked Jill to continue reading.

**Regardless, almost all guardians were men, which meant there were a lot more Moroi than guardians. Most dhampir guys accepted that they wouldn't have kids. **

"That's not fair," Sydney says.

**They knew it was their job to protect Moroi while their sisters and cousins had babies.**

"It is not our job to lie on our backs and pop out children," I say, angry that a few years back I held that incredibly sexist view.

"I agree," Christian says. "I can hardly imagine Rose giving birth let alone having to raise kids. That would be a sight to see."

"A sight to see," I say menacingly, "would be seeing what pops out of you when I cheerfully beat you to death."

Christian turned paler than usual, and that made a few people laugh.

"Jill, you may read now," I say.

"Alright," she says trying to suppress a laugh.

**Some dhampir women, like my mother, still felt it was their duty to become guardians—even if it meant not raising their own kids. After I'd been born, she'd handed me over to be raised by Moroi. **

My mother threw her arms up in the air. "Oh for heavens sake, Rose. You act like after the second you were born I dropped you off in front of the Academy's gates and never looked back."

"I'm entitled to feel how I want," I say defensively.

**Moroi and dhampirs start school pretty young, and the Academy had essentially taken over as my parent by the time I was four.**

"Add a 's' to that," I say, looking directly at Abe.

"What," he says animatedly. "It's not like I could choose whether to be in your life or not. Your mother wanted me to stay out of it until you were older."

I roll my eyes at him, and he glares at me. Yep, I definitely inherited my attitude from him.

**Between her example and my life at the Academy, I believed wholeheartedly that it was a dhampir's job to protect Moroi. **

"It looks like I did something right," my mother says sarcastically.

"Looks like you did," I say jokingly. If she wanted to feel bad about what she did I was going to make the most of it.

**It was part of our heritage, **_**and **_**it was the only way we'd keep going. It was that simple.**

"You make it sound so cut and dry," Christian echoes. "It can't be easy throwing yourself in front of someone knowing that you might die in the process."

"It's not," I say, "but it's my job and I really don't have a choice."

My mother, Alberta, Mikhail and Dimitri all nod their heads in agreement.

**And that was what made what the Badicas' guardian had done so shocking. He'd abandoned his Moroi and run off with another guardian, which meant she'd abandoned **_**her **_**Moroi. They couldn't even have children together, and now two families were unprotected. **

"They can find new guardians," I say nonchalantly.

**What was the point? No one cared if teenage dhampirs dated or if adult dhampirs had flings. But a long-term relationship? Particularly one that involved them running away? A complete waste. And a disgrace.**

I shake my head at my reasoning. It's not like I haven't run away before, and it's not like I don't live with another guardian, but we both still do our duties.

**After a little more speculation on the Badicas, Lissa and I left Aaron. As we stepped outside, I heard a funny shifting sound and then something sliding. Too late, I realized what was happening, just as a pile of slush slid off the chapel's roof and onto us. **

"How much are you willing to bet that was Mia's doing?" Viktoria asked her nephew, Paul.

**It was early October, and we'd had early snow last night that had started melting almost immediately. As a result, the stuff that fell on us was very wet and very cold.**

**Lissa took the brunt of it, but I still yelped as icy water landed on my hair and neck. **

"I would have loved to see you all wet, Little dhampir."

"I bet you would," I say dangerously.

"Wait… I—," he cut himself off when he remembered—more like saw—Sydney was in the room.

She threw him a dirty glare and gave her undivided attention to Jill. Dimitri didn't even have to glare at Adrian for his comment because Sydney had done it for him. Adrian looks completely miserable right now.

**A few others squealed nearby too, having caught the edge of the mini-avalanche.**

**"You okay?" I asked her. Her coat was drenched, and her platinum hair clung to the sides of her face.**

**"Y-yeah," she said through chattering teeth.**

"Where is Christian when you need him? I bet he could have warmed you two up, and by you two I meant Lissa," Eddie says.

I shoot Eddie a death glare, but it didn't wipe the smirk off his face. He and Christian were beginning to grow to close, and that was not a good thing. He was starting to pick up Christian's snarkiness, and I don't think I can deal with two Christian's and an Adrian. Life really sucks.

**I pulled off my coat and handed it to her. It had a slick surface and had repelled most of the water. "Take yours off."**

"That's the nicest thing I think Rose has ever done," Christian. "Someone give her a good Samaritan award."

I shoot him the same glare I shot Eddie, and he paled a little bit under my gaze.

**"But you'll be—"**

**"Take this."**

"That was really generous of you, Rose. Thank you," Lissa says.

"No problem, Liss," I say.

**She did, and as she slipped on my coat, I finally tuned into the laughter that always follows these situations. I avoided the eyes, instead focusing on holding Lissa's wet jacket while she changed.**

**"Wish you hadn't been wearing a coat, Rose," said Ralf Sarcozy an unusually bulky and plump Moroi. I hated him. **

"So do I," I hear Abe mutter. I guess _daddy _didn't like people hitting on his daughter.

**"That shirt would have looked good wet."**

"I'll kill him," Abe says.

"I know," I reply, "but there is no need for that."

**"That shirt's so ugly it should be burned. Did you get that from a homeless person?"**

"I wonder who said that," Adrian said, looking directly at Mia.

**I glanced up as Mia walked over and looped her arm through Aaron's. Her blond curls were arranged perfectly, and she had on an awesome pair of black heels that would have looked much better on me. **

"Rose," Mia complains.

"What, I was telling the truth. You were too young to be wearing them. You could have fallen and broken something," I say to her.

"You shouldn't be worried about me _tripping_ and breaking something," she says to me icily.

"Rose, what did you do to this poor girl?" Karolina asks.

"Ask not what I did to her, but what she did to me," I say cosmopolitan like, earning a few laughs from my friends who knew what happened. It is kind of funny when we look back on it now, but at the time it was anything but.

Mia blushed, and Jill continued to read.

**At least they made her look taller, I'd give her that. **

"For a Moroi you really are short," Eddie says to her.

"I think Rose has made that extremely clear," Mia says spitefully.

**Aaron had been a few steps behind us but had miraculously avoided being nailed by the slush. Seeing how smug she looked, I decided there'd been no miracles involved.**

"You are outside a church. Anything can happen," Adrian jokes.

"That is not funny," Sydney chastises, and Adrian abruptly shut up.

**"I suppose you want to offer to burn it, huh?" I asked, refusing to let her know how much that insult bugged me. I knew perfectly well my fashion sense had slipped over the last two years. **

"At least you're modest enough to admit it," Christian says sarcastically.

"Whatever, Christian," I retort.

**"Oh, wait—fire isn't your element, is it? You work with water. What a coincidence that a bunch just fell on us."**

"Looking back on everything, I'm actually glade you specialize in water," I say to her, thinking about how she saved my life during our _stay _in Spokane.

"Me too," she says, having had the same realization. We smiled at each other and Jill continued reading.

**Mia looked as if she'd been insulted, but the gleam in her eyes showed that she was enjoying this way too much to be an innocent bystander. **

"When has Mia ever been innocent?" Eddie jokes.

She rolls her eyes at him, but he doesn't notice.

**"What's that supposed to mean?"**

"That you dumped a bunch of water on us. Uh, duh, Mia," I say, just to piss her off.

**"Nothing to me. But Ms. Kirova will probably have something to say when she finds out you used magic against another student."**

"Not much," Christian says, "I know from experience. She only gives a nice lecture about how wrong it is and blah, blah, blah. Then she gives you a week of detention."

"How would you know that," Tasha asks.

"You'll find out later," Lissa says.

**"That wasn't an attack," she scoffed. "And it wasn't me. It was an act of God."**

Sydney snorts.

"Sure it was," Adrian comments, and Mia begins to blush.

**A few others laughed, much to her delight. In my imagination, I responded with, **_**So is this, **_**and then slammed her into the side of the church. **

"I'm so glad you decided not to do that," Mia says, no doubt remembering the one time I did hit her. It was not fun for her, and her face still carries the—let's say, souvenir from her trip to the dangerous world of Rose Hathaway.

**In real life, Lissa simply nudged me and said, "Let's go."**

**She and I walked off toward our respective dorms, leaving behind laughter and jokes about our wet states and how Lissa wouldn't know anything about specialization. **

Abe turns to Lissa and asks, "Would you like for me to handle them?"

"No thank you. I did specialized actually, so there is no need, but thanks for the, um, gesture."

"Any time. Any friend of Rose is a friend of mine," he says.

**Inside, I seethed. I had to do something about Mia, I realized. In addition to the general irritation of Mia's bitchiness, I didn't want Lissa to have to deal with any more stress than she had to. We'd been okay this first week, and I wanted to keep it that way.**

"I think you wanting to get back at Mia was more about your own wants than Lissa's needs," my mother says.

"Maybe," I say, not wanting giving her the benefit of the doubt.

**"You know," I said, "I'm thinking more and more that you stealing Aaron back is a good thing. It'll teach Bitch Doll a lesson. I bet it'd be easy, too. He's still crazy about you."**

"I definitely like 'doll girl' better," Mia says.

"I don't," I say despitefully.

**"I don't want to teach anyone a lesson," said Lissa. "And **_**I'm **_**not crazy about him."**

Christian had a smug look on his face, probably because she didn't like Aaron, but she did like him.

**"Come on, she picks fights and talks about us behind our backs. She accused me of getting jeans from the Salvation Army yesterday."**

**"Your jeans **_**are **_**from the Salvation Army."**

"I knew it," Mia exclaims, earning a glare from me.

**"Well, yeah," I snorted, "but she has no right making fun of them when she's wearing stuff from Target."**

"What's wrong with Target?" Mia asks incredulously.

"Nothing," I say.

"Then what's the problem?" she asks.

"Listen," is my only reply.

**"Hey, there's nothing wrong with Target. I like Target."**

**"So do I . That's not the point. She's trying to pass her stuff off like it's freaking Stella McCartney."**

"What's wrong with that?" Mia asks again.

"Listen," I say again.

**"And that's a crime?"**

**I affected a solemn face. "Absolutely. You've gotta take revenge."**

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to Lissa," my mother informs her. "Don't let Rose influence you."

"Sorry, mom, but I already have influenced her. But don't worry, all my influences were good. Look how our Queen turned out," I say.

**"I told you, I'm not interested in revenge." Lissa cut me a sidelong look. "And you shouldn't be either."**

"That's like telling Rose not to kill Strigoi. Impossible and not going to happen," Christian says.

"You're damn straight it is," I say to him and everyone else in the room.

**I smiled as innocently as I could, and when we parted ways, I felt relieved again that she couldn't read my thoughts.**

"I wish I could," Lissa says.

"No, you really don't," I say to her. "You wouldn't like what you see."

"Why not?" she asks.

"Things tend to get a little bit personal if you know what I mean," I say to her, and she nods her head in understanding.

**"So when's the big catfight going to happen?"**

"That has to be no one other than Mason," Eddie says.

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," Jill says. "Now, can I finish this chapter please?"

"Oh, sure," he says.

**Mason was waiting for me outside our dorm after I'd parted ways with Lissa. He looked lazy and cute, leaning against the wall with crossed arms as he watched me.**

**"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."**

"Don't play dumb, Rose," Christian comments. "Oh, wait, you weren't playing."

I shoot him another death glare and add him to my mental hit list along with Eddie.

**He unfolded himself and walked with me into the building, handing me his coat, since I'd let Lissa go off with my dry one. **

"Aw, that was sweet of him," Lissa notes.

"Yeah, Mason was a really great guy," I say.

"_Was_?" Olena asks.

"You'll find out sometime later," I say.

**"I saw you guys sparring outside the chapel. Have you no respect for the house of God?"**

Sydney snorted and said, "No."

**I snorted. "You've got about as much respect for it as I do, you heathen. You didn't even go. Besides, as you said, we were **_**outside."**_

Sydney shot me an incredulous look, and I just shrug my shoulders.

**"And you still didn't answer the question."**

**I just grinned and slipped on his coat.**

**We stood in the common area of our dorm, a well-supervised lounge and study area where male and female students could mingle, along with Moroi guests. Being Sunday, it was pretty crowded with those cramming for last-minute assignments due tomorrow. Spying a small, empty table, I grabbed Mason's arm and pulled him toward it.**

"You should be up in your room," my mother chastises.

"Rules are for losers," I say.

**"Aren't you supposed to go straight to your room?"**

"My sentiments exactly," my mother says. "Where are those dorm matrons when you need them? They should be doing their job."

"Just listen," I say to her bitterly.

**I hunkered down in my seat, glancing around warily. "There are so many people here today, it'll take them a while to notice me. God, I'm so sick of being locked away. And it's only been a week."**

"You'll never survive," Adrian says.

"Sure I will," I say to him.

**"I'm sick of it too. We missed you last night. A bunch of us went and shot pool in the rec room. Eddie was on fire."**

"Can't believe I missed that," I mutter.

"Me either," Eddie says.

**I groaned. "Don't tell me that. I don't want to hear about your glamorous social life."**

"If I was being locked up neither would I," Lissa says.

"Thanks for the sympathy, Liss."

**"All right." He propped his elbow up on the table and rested his chin in his hand. "Then tell me about Mia. You're just going to turn around and punch her one day, aren't you? I think I remember you doing that at least ten times with people that pissed you off."**

Mia flinches. "Oh, she didn't disappoint," she says under her breath.

**"I'm a new, reformed Rose," I said, doing my best impression of demure. Which wasn't very good. He emitted a choking sort of laugh. "Besides, if I do that, I'll have broken my probation with Kirova. Gotta walk the straight and narrow."**

"Since when do you follow the rules?" Christian asks.

"Unless you don't remember correctly, I did break a few rules. I'm breaking one now. I'm sure there's more to come."

"I learn something new about you every minute," Viktoria says. "Dimka, you sure know how to pick them."

He just flashes her a smile and turns his attention back to Jill.

**"In other words, find some way to get back at Mia that you won't get in trouble for."**

"Too bad you took his advice," she says stonily.

**I felt a smile tug at the corners of my lips. "You know what I like about you, Mase? You think just like I do."**

"That," Dimitri says, "is not a good thing."

"It's actually down right chilling, if you think about it," Eddie says.

I flash both of them smiles and turn back to Jill.

**"Frightening concept," he replied dryly. **

"I wholeheartedly agree," Christian says.

"Me too," Mia says dryly.

**"So tell me what you think of this: I might know something about her, but I probably shouldn't tell you…"**

"Wait…Mason told you that!" she exclaims.

"Yeah, why?" I ask.

"I can't believe it. How did he know?" she inquires.

"You'll find out," I say.

"What did he tell her?" Karolina asks.

"You'll also find out soon," I say.

**I leaned forward. "Oh, you already tipped me off. You've **_**got **_**to tell me now."**

"No he doesn't," Mia says.

**"It'd be wrong," he teased. "How do I know you'd use this knowledge for good instead of evil?"**

"This is Rose Hathaway we are talking about," Christian says. "There is no way in hell she is going to use that information for good."

"Shut up," I say to him. "You don't know that," I add defensively.

"Actually the entire school knows that," Christian says.

"Oh, yeah."

**I batted my eyelashes. "Can you resist this face?"**

"Probably not," Adrian says, earning yet another glare from Sydney.

**He took a moment to study me. "No. I can't, actually. Okay, here you go: Mia isn't royal."**

"That's a real shocker," Christian says. "We already knew that."

**I slouched back in my chair. "No kidding. I already knew that. I've known who's royal since I was two."**

**"Yeah, but there's more than just that. Her parents work for one of the Drozdov lords." I waved my hand impatiently. A lot of Moroi worked out in the human world, but Moroi society had plenty of jobs for its own kind too. Someone had to fill them. "Cleaning stuff. Practically servants. Her dad cuts grass, and her mom's a maid."**

**I actually had a healthy respect for anyone who pulled a full day's work, regardless of the job. **

"Good for you," Sydney says.

**People everywhere had to do crappy stuff to make a living. But, much like with Target, it became another matter all together when someone was trying to pass herself off as something else. And in the week that I'd been here, I'd picked up on how desperately Mia wanted to fit in with the school elite.**

**"No one knows," I said thoughtfully.**

"Obviously," Mia says.

"Don't get smart with me," I say to her. "I could tell," I say with a devious glint in my eyes that I am sure Dimitri noticed because he just rolls his eyes at me.

"What," I say to him, and he just shakes his head.

**"And she doesn't want them to. You know how the royals are." He paused. "Well, except for Lissa, of course. They'd give Mia a hard time over it."**

"Yeah, Liss would never disown someone because of their past or who their parents were or are," I say.

Mia and Christian nod their heads in agreement.

**"How do you know all this?"**

"Yeah, how did he know this," Abe asked curiously.

Of course he of all people would want to know.

**"My uncle's a guardian for the Drozdovs."**

"Brilliant," Mia says.

**"And you've just been sitting on this secret, huh?"**

**"Until you broke me. So which path will you choose: good or evil?"**

"I wish he would have kept that to himself," Mia says.

"Me too," Lissa says, "it would have saved us from having to go through all the hardships we did that year."

"Are you saying Rose told?" Sonya asks.

"Yep," Lissa says.

She just shakes her head at me and turns back to Jill.

**"I think I'll give her a grace—"**

**"Miss Hathaway, you know you aren't supposed to be here."**

"Finally," my mother says.

"Yeah," Mia says, "too bad whoever that is didn't show up sooner."

**One of the dorm matrons stood over us, disapproval all over her face.**

**I hadn't been joking when I said Mason thought like me. **

"This can't be good," Christian says.

**He could bullshit as well as I could. **

"That's not a compliment," Sydney says disapprovingly.

"It is coming from Rose Hathaway," Eddie says, and I almost smiled at him—almost. I still haven't forgotten he's on my mental hit list. Him and Christian both.

**"We have a group project to do for our humanities class. How are we supposed to do it if Rose is in isolation?"**

"That would have been a very convincing lie if you two had actually looked like you were studying," Adrian says.

"Whatever," I say to him. "Just wait for it."

"Wait for what?" he asks.

"Just listen, dumb ass," I say.

**The matron narrowed her eyes. "You don't look like you're doing work."**

"Because they weren't," my mother says in exasperation.

**I slid over the priest's book and opened it at random. I'd placed it on the table when we sat down.**

**"We're, um, working on this."**

"Too bad she didn't read the book," Eddie says.

"Or notice that Rose used the word 'um'," Christian noted.

"Would you to shut up," I say angrily.

**She still looked suspicious. "One hour. I'll give you one more hour down here, and I'd better actually see you working."**

**"Yes, ma'am," said Mason straight-faced. "Absolutely."**

"He really can bullshit as well as you can," Adrian says.

"Did I not already say that," I say to him.

**She wandered off, still eyeing us. "My hero," I declared.**

**He pointed at the book. "What is this?"**

**"Something the priest gave me. I had a question about the service."**

"I'm shocked Mase did go into a comma," Eddie says.

**He stared at me, astonished.**

"That's good enough," Christian says.

**"Oh, stop it and look interested." I skimmed the index. "I'm trying to find some woman named Anna."**

**Mason slid his chair over so that he was sitting right beside me. "All right. Let's 'study.'"**

**I found a page number, and it took me to the section on St. Vladimir, not surprisingly. We read through the chapter, scanning for Anna's name. When we found it, the author didn't have much to say about her. He did include an excerpt written by some guy who had apparently lived at the same time as St. Vladimir:**

**And with Vladimir always is Anna, the daughter of Fyodor. Their love is as chaste and pure as that of brother and sister, and many times has she defended him from Strigoi who would seek to destroy him and his holiness. Likewise, it is she who comforts him when the spirit becomes too much to bear, and Satan's darkness tries to smother him and weaken his own health and body. This too she defends against, for they have been bound together ever since he saved her life as a child. It is a sign of God's love that He has sent the blessed Vladimir a guardian such as her, one who is shadow-kissed and always knows what is in his heart and mind.**

"They have a bond," Abe says surprised.

Everyone in the room with the exception of me, Lissa, Christian, Dimitri and Adrian was astonished by this news.

"I had no idea," Mia says. "Even after sitting in church all those Sundays. I never would have imagined."

"Who said you couldn't learn anything from Rose Hathaway?" I ask.

"No one, but I'll say it now," Christian says to piss me off.

"I'll let you slide on that one Ozera."

**"There you go," Mason said. "She was his guardian."**

**"It doesn't say what 'shadow-kissed' means."**

"I'm glad we finally figured that out," Lissa says.

"I'm definitely glad we figured that out," I say.

**"Probably doesn't mean anything."**

"Oh, it means something alright," I say.

**Something in me didn't believe that. I read it again, trying to make sense of the old-fashioned language. **

"It wasn't that old fashioned," Dimitri says.

"Sure it wasn't genius," I tease him.

**Mason watched me curiously, looking like he very much wanted to help.**

**"Maybe they were hooking up," he suggested.**

"A saint. Hooking up. Wow he really does think like you," my mother says.

**I laughed. "He was a **_**saint."**_

**"So? Saints probably like sex too. That 'brother and sister' stuff is probably a cover." **

"They probably do," Adrian says. "I mean everyone has to like sex. Saints can't be immune to that."

Sydney rolls her eyes at his reasoning.

**He pointed to one of the lines. "See? They were 'bound' together." He winked. "It's code."**

**Bound. It was a weird word choice, but that didn't necessarily mean Anna and Vladimir were ripping each other's clothes off.**

"It sure doesn't," Sydney says in agreement.

**"I don't think so. They're just close. Guys and girls can just be friends." I said it pointedly, and he gave me a dry look.**

**"Yeah? **_**We're **_**friends, and I don't know what's in your 'heart and mind.'" Mason put on a fake philosopher's look. "Of course, some might argue that one can never know what's in the heart of a woman—"**

"I agree," Adrian says, cutting Sydney a look.

**"Oh, shut up," I groaned, punching him in the arm.**

**"For they are strange and mysterious creatures," he continued in his scholarly voice, "and a man must be a mind reader if he ever wishes to make them happy."**

"Not a mind reader, just bonded," I say.

**I started giggling uncontrollably and knew I'd probably get in trouble again. "Well, try to read my mind and stop being such a—"**

**I stopped laughing and looked back down at the book.**

"She finally gets it," Christian says.

"Oh, shut up for once," I shout.

"No need to get animated," Christian says.

**Bound together and **_**always knows what is in his heart and mind.**_

"Like you and Lissa, right?" Yeva asks.

"Yes," I say to her.

"Are Mark and Oksana bound together too?" she asks me.

"Yes," I reply.

That caught Dimitri, Olena, Viktoria, Sonya, and Karolina off guard.

"Their bonded?" Dimitri asks me. "How do you know?"

"Yeva took me to them while I was in Russia, and Mark explained everything to me. The rest I'm sure you all will find out in one of the later books," I say.

**They had a bond, I realized. **

"Someone stop the timer," Christian says. "How long did it take her to figure that out?" he asks snarkily.

**I would have bet everything I owned—which wasn't much—on it. The revelation was astonishing. There were lots of vague stories and myths about how guardians and Moroi 'used to have bonds.' But this was the first I'd ever heard of anyone specific that it had happened to.**

"Besides Mark and Oksana," Lissa says. "I really wish you would take me to meet them," she says to me.

"Yeah," Adrian says.

"We could probably get them to come here," Olena says. "I'm sure they would love to join our little reading group, especially if it is being told from Rose's point of view."

"That would be great," Lissa says.

"I'll make the arrangements once we finish this chapter," she says.

"Thank you," Lissa says to her.

"Your welcome."

**Mason had noticed my startled reaction. "You okay? You look kind of weird."**

**I shrugged it off. "Yeah. Fine."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Jill says. "Who wants to read next?"

"I'll read next," Mikhail, says.

Jill hands him the book, and once Olena returns to the room from making arrangements with Mark and Oksana he begins to read.

"Chapter seven," he says.

**I hope you liked this chapter. Please don't forget to review. Oh, and don't forget to take the poll and let your opinion be heard. **

**I now accept anonymous reviews, so if you read a chapter please review it and tell me what you think. Criticism is always good. It lets me know what I need to work on and what I need to continue doing. Please review. **

**If anyone has a fanfic they would like for me to read and review please let me know. I am always looking for new stories to get hooked on. **

**I am sorry for any mistakes there may be in this chapter. My computer kind of duplicated some of the lines, and some mistakes may be of my own making, but I still apologize for any you may find. **

**R&R. **

**I'll try to update as soon as I can, but unfortunately I have to go back to school next Friday. Bummer. The bright side is I will only have one class so I can go late and leave early. That's an advantage of being a junior I can get used too. That also means I should still be able to update regularly. At least until my other classes begin. **


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N:**

**I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I am still trying to get better at replying to all of your reviews. I love all the feedback I am receiving, and I want you to continue criticizing my fanfic. If you find a mistake please let me know. **

**Continue voting on who you think should read the lust charm chapter, and if you have any questions feel free to ask me. If you have any suggestions please let me know that too. Oh, and in the last chapter Eddie and Christian were put on Rose's mental hit list. Any ideas how she should get them back. I'm open to suggestions. R&R.**

**Disclaimer:**

**I—no matter how much I may want to—do not own **_**Vampire Academy **_**or any of the characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead. It's a bummer I can't have Dimitri though. *Sigh* **

"Chapter seven," Mikhail begins.

**A COUPLE WEEKS PASSED AFTER that, and I soon forgot about the Anna thing as life at the Academy wrapped around me. **

"You knew nothing about being shadow-kissed and then you found Anna, another shadow-kissed guardian, and you just forgot about her because of your own social life. Typical Rose. I don't even see how you managed that one, seeing as how you were on heavy probation," Christian says.

"I agree with Christian," my mother says. "You really should have continued learning about her. It's not like you really had a social life to worry about."

"Ease up on Rose," Abe says, and I shoot him a grateful smile. At least one of my parents doesn't criticize everything I did. "She eventually found out all she needed to know. Plus if that book was any indication, there wasn't much research she could do."

"Thank you," I shout.

"Rose did have internet access in her room," Mia points out—much to my dissatisfaction. "She could have done research that way, and that's all I'm going to say on that subject because I do value my life." With that last statement I shoot her a devious smile.

**The shock of our return had worn off a little, and we began to fall into a semi-comfortable routine. My days revolved around church, lunch with Lissa, and whatever sort of social life I could scrape together outside of that. **

"I don't see how you managed that," Eddie says, "especially with all the restrictions Kirova set in place for you."

"I am his," I say inclining my head towards Abe, "daughter."

"You prove that more and more the further we get into this book," my mother says.

**Denied any real free time, I didn't have too hard a time staying out of the spotlight, although I did manage to steal a little attention here and there, despite my noble speech to her about 'coasting through the middle.' **

"It's not like we didn't expect that," Adrian says. "Giving advice is something you like to do. Taking advice, not so much."

"Shut up," I hiss at him.

"Plus Rose is a natural born trouble maker. We couldn't really expect her to 'coast through the middle'. Causing trouble and being the center of attention is something she was born to do," Christian says.

I glare at him and he just shrugs his shoulders. If he kept this up he would move past Eddie on my hit list.

**I couldn't help it. I liked flirting, I liked groups, and I liked making smartass comments in class.**

"What did I say?" Christian says.

"Christian, please be quiet," Lissa says.

"Fine, but only because you asked."

**Her new, incognito role attracted attention simply because it was so different than before we'd left, back when she'd been so active with the royals. **

"Rose, Lissa is a royal, and at the time she was last in the line of Dragomirs. Of course her falling off the social radar would attract attention," Adrian says.

"Rose, probably didn't think about that. She isn't that bright," Christian says.

"Would you two shut up! I only asked her to stay away from the royals because I knew the games they liked to play would have driven her insane. I did it for her own good. It's not like we knew much about how the bond worked then, so I had no idea I could just suck the insanity from her," I say angrily.

"Rose, has a point," Lissa says. "You guys are overanalyzing everything she says or does. I think you should lighten up. Her intentions were good."

"Not likely to happen," Christian and Eddie say.

**Most people soon let that go, accepting that the Dragomir princess was fading off the social radar and content to run with Natalie and her group. **

"I wish we hadn't done that," I say.

"Rose," Dimitri warns.

"What?" I ask. "Am I not allowed to criticize myself? Everyone else is doing it," I add bitterly.

"With good reason," Eddie says.

No matter what I may have thought earlier, Eddie was still definitely at the top of my mental hit list.

**Natalie's rambling still made me want to beat my head against a wall sometimes, but she was really nice—nicer than almost any of the other royals—and I enjoyed hanging around her most of the time.**

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I murmur to myself as I beat my head against the back of my chair.

"Rose, please stop," Lissa says. "We didn't know she would turn on us, but there is nothing we can do about that now, so just please stop."

"Fine."

"How did she turn on you two?" Karolina asks.

"I'm sure it will come up soon enough," I say bitterly.

**And, just as Kirova had warned, I was indeed training and working out all the time. **

"And what about homework?" my mother asks.

"Oh, I did it," I say, "but I definitely did a half-assed job on it, but that is nothing new. I always did my homework in that fashion, especially considering the fact that I hated most of my classes."

"What do you like?" Christian asks. "Other than Lissa and Dimitri."

"Lots of stuff. Now, if you don't mind Christian, Mikhail has a chapter to read."

**But as more time passed, my body stopped hating me. My muscles grew tougher, and my stamina increased. **

"Did you do any better in your combat classes?" Sydney asks me.

"Not much. I still got my ass handed to me, but not for much longer," I say.

"Yeah, she quickly rose to the top of our class," Eddie says. That had to be the nicest thing he has said to me lately. I might not have to get back at him after all. "But of course my overall grades were better." Whatever progress we had made in those few seconds was washed down the drain. He better watch his back because Rose Hathaway is about to come out and play. Game on.

**I still got my ass kicked in practice but not quite as badly as I used to, which was something. **

"Practice makes perfect," my mother says.

"No. Practice with Dimitri makes perfect," I correct her.

"Rose, was that really necessary?" Dimitri asks me.

"Absolutely," I say. "You shaped me into the badass guardian I am today."

"I wish you hadn't done such a great job," Christian says under his breath.

"Sacred?" I ask him with a knowing smirk on my face.

**The biggest toll now seemed to be on my skin. Being outside in the cold so much was chapping my face, and only Lissa's constant supply of skin-care lotions kept me from aging before my time. **

"I'm glad I could be of service," Lissa says. "For once, I finally got to help you."

"You help me all the time without knowing it, Liss."

She shoots me a smile and I return it.

**She couldn't do much for the blisters on my hands and feet.**

"Why didn't you just have her heal them?" Adrian asks like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Because we didn't fully understand her magic, and I didn't want her using it."

"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense," he says.

"Rose does use her brain a little bit," Christian says.

"Christian, if I didn't use my brain at all you would have died three different times," I say seriously.

"Yeah, you have saved my life quite a bit," he says. "And, uh, thank you I guess, but that doesn't mean I don't get to make fun of you."

"Whatever, Christian. You can keep being an idiot."

**A routine also developed with Dimitri and me. Mason had been right about him being antisocial. Dimitri didn't hang out much with the other guardians, though it was clear they all respected him. And the more I worked with him, the more I respected him too, though I didn't really understand his training methods. **

"Rose, respecting authority. Wow," Eddie says.

"You have to keep in mind that the authority she respected was in the form of Dimitri," Mia adds.

"Hey," I exclaim, "I am not completely disrespectful."

"She really isn't," Dimitri says coming to my defense. That shut them all up. Way to go Dimitri.

**They didn't seem very badass. We always started by stretching in the gym, and lately he'd been sending me outside to run, braving the increasingly cold Montana autumn.**

"Running is very essential," my mother says.

"Don't worry I know. Dimitri enlightens me as to why in a few moments."

**Three weeks after my return to the Academy, I walked into the gym before school one day and found him sprawled on a mat, reading a Louis L'Amour book. **

"Dimka, you still read those?" Sonya asks.

He turns to her with amusement in his eyes. "Yes, why?"

"I don't know. I just never saw why you liked them. I never particularly cared for them," she responds.

"I know," he says, and then turns his attention back to Mikhail so he can continue reading.

**Someone had brought in a portable CD player, and while that cheered me up at first, the song coming from it did not: "When Doves Cry" by Prince. **

"How did you know that?" Dimitri asks me, curiosity lacing every word.

"You'll find out in a matter of seconds," I reply.

**It was embarrassing to know the title, but one of our former housemates had been obsessed with the '80s.**

I can see Dimitri trying to forcibly hide a smile. What's so funny about that realization.

**"Whoa, Dimitri," I said, tossing my bag on the floor. "I realize this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"**

"Wow, Rose, you never cease to amaze me," Viktoria says. "That was so not a current hit in Eastern Europe and you know it. You know Dimka has weird entertainment choices."

"I do not," he says defensively.

"Comrade, you really do."

**Only his eyes flicked toward me; the rest of his posture remained the same. "What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running."**

"That's right Dimitri, put her in her place," Christian says snarkily.

I glare at him, and he pretends not to notice.

**I made a face as I set my foot up on one of the bars and stretched my hamstrings. All things considered, Dimitri had a good-natured tolerance for my snarkiness. **

"Snarkiness, Rose?" Eddie asks. "I thought that was Christian's thing, so where did you pick it up because I know you hadn't been hanging out with him."

"Gift," I say, never taking my eyes off Mikhail, and he began reading as soon as I finished my one word sentence.

**So long as I didn't slack in my training, he didn't mind my running commentary.**

"I think that was just because he knew there was no way to shut you up," Christian says. "Your mouth runs nonstop."

"So does yours," I snap, "and if you don't make it stop running I will do it for you."

Christian paled at this and said nothing else. That's what I thought, and he better keep it that way.

"She really _is_ your daughter," my mother says to Abe.

"I figured that out chapters ago," he says to her.

**"Hey," I asked, moving on to the next set of stretches, "what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something with a little hitting? They're still killing me in group practice."**

**"Maybe you should hit harder," he replied dryly.**

"'Hit harder'. That's brilliant," Eddie says. "I would have loved to see the look on Rose's face when you said that."

"Now that was funny, Dimitri. Maybe you could give Rose a few pointers," Christian says in between laughs.

I wanted to kill both of them right now and get it over with, but I guess I'll wait until bedtime. Damn, that was a long ways away, but at least that would give me more time to think. I really had to think of something good to get those sons of a bitch back.

**"I'm serious."**

"How often do you say _that_?" Viktoria asks.

"Not very," Mia answers for me.

"Shut up," I yell. "I can be serious sometimes. It's not a criminal offense."

**"Hard to tell the difference." He set the book down but didn't move from his sprawl. "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and fight dark creatures, right?"**

"Uh, duh. Isn't that what you got paid to do?" Adrian asks.

"Ivashkov, I was not speaking to you, so if you don't mind will you keep your mouth shut so Guardian Tanner can read," Dimitri replies calmly.

Adrian rolls his eyes, but otherwise stays quiet.

**"Yup."**

**"So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?"**

"That's easy. Kill it," Christian says.

"That was not the answer he was looking for genius," I say.

"What the hell else can you do?" Christian shouts. "Because there is no way in hell you can outrun one of those son of a bitches. They're too fast."

"Not according to Dimitri. Just listen," I say to Christian.

**"Depends on what store we're in."**

"How would the store you're in determine what you do?" Mia asks.

"I couldn't just kill something in front of a bunch of humans."

"Oh, well, that does make sense. They would have you arrested."

**He looked at me.**

**"Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake."**

"And if you two had run away, where would you get a silver stake from?" my mother asks.

"Don't worry, Dimitri covers that line of thought," I say stonily.

**Dimitri sat up now, crossing his long legs in one fluid motion. I still couldn't figure out how someone so tall could be so graceful. **

"Experience," he says. "I've been this tall practically my entire life. It just comes naturally."

**"Oh?" He raised his dark eyebrows. "Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?"**

"My sentiments exactly," my mother says triumphantly.

"She could always decapitate it," Abe says coming to my defense.

"With what," my mother asks, "a clothes hanger?"

That made a few people in the room laugh, and I could see Dimitri trying to hide yet another smile.

**I dragged my eyes away from his body and scowled. Made with elemental magic, silver stakes were a guardian's deadliest weapon. Stabbing a Strigoi through the heart with one meant instant death. **

"It's getting to the heart that's the problem," Alberta says, "but with practice guardians are able to do it without much difficulty."

Every guardian in the room nods their head in agreement and so does Lissa. I almost forgot she had stabbed a Strigoi—and by a Strigoi I mean Dimitri—through the heart. That had been no small feat for her. It had actually been incredibly difficult, especially considering the fact that she had not been trained in the art of staking. She practiced on a few pillows and then _practiced _on the real thing. I'm shocked she succeeded without killing herself.

**The blades were also lethal to Moroi, so they weren't given out lightly to novices. **

"God only knows how many people would have turned up dead if Rose had been given a stake," Eddie says laughing.

Christian, Jill, Mia, Lissa, and surprisingly Dimitri and Alberta joined in on the laughter.

**My classmates had just started learning how to use them. I'd trained with a gun before, but no one would let me near a stake yet. **

"Someone had some sense. Although I'm not sure how much considering the fact that he or she let you train with a gun," Christian says.

Everyone in the room began laughing at this, but I didn't find it all that amusing. It was actually down right insulting.

**Fortunately, there were two other ways to kill a Strigoi.**

**"Okay. I'll cut his head off."**

**"Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?"**

"She could always set him on fire," Abe says outraged. He must be using the same line of thinking I had been using with Dimitri.

"I don't think they sell blowtorches and flamethrowers in the mall," my mother says smugly.

I wanted to smack her, and by the look in Abe's eyes so did he.

**I straightened up from touching my toes, annoyed. "Fine, then I'll set him on fire."**

My mother snorted.

**"Again, with what?"**

"Exactly," my mother says smugly.

Abe shot her a dirty look, but she ignored him. Then he exclaims, "If she doesn't stake it, and she doesn't decapitate it, and she doesn't set it on fire, then what the hell is she supposed to do. _Run_. There is no way in hell she can outrun a Strigoi, especially if she has a Moroi with her."

Now it was my turn to wear a smug expression.

**"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?"**

"Yeah, I would love to know the answer to that," Abe says dryly.

"So would I," Christian says.

**He looked at me and didn't blink. "You run."**

"That's suicide," Christian yells.

"I agree with him," Abe says.

"You have no weapons to kill a Strigoi," Dimitri says calmly, "so would you rather stand there and have your neck snapped and the blood drained from your body, or would you attempt to get away. You have a better chance of survival if you do _something_."

This made Abe and Christian's arguments die down, and the look of triumph on my mother's face increases—if that is even possible.

**I repressed the urge to throw something at him. **

"I'm resisting the same urge," Abe says under his breath while looking in my mother's direction. She was still wearing her smug smile.

**When I finished my stretches, he told me he'd run with me. That was a first. Maybe running would give me some insight into his killer reputation.**

"I doubt that," Eddie says.

"Why do you say that?" Lissa asks.

"The only thing they're doing is running. She won't find out much about his killer reputation unless they were attacked by Strigoi while running."

"I guess your right," Lissa says.

**We set out into the chilly October evening. Being back on a vampiric schedule still felt weird to me. With school about to start in an hour, I expected the sun to be coming up, not down. But it was sinking on the western horizon, lighting up the snow-capped mountains with an orange glow. It didn't really warm things up, and I soon felt the cold pierce my lungs as my need for oxygen deepened. We didn't speak. **

"Of course you didn't. Isn't he supposed to be antisocial or something?" Adrian asks.

I just shoot him a glare and he rolls his eyes and says, "Little dhampir I was just asking a question."

**He slowed his pace to match mine, so we stayed together.**

**Something about that bothered me; I suddenly very much wanted his approval. **

"Why," Mia asks.

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted his approval like I said in the book."

"Really great answer, Rose," Christian says sarcastically.

**So I picked up my own pace, working my lungs and muscles harder. Twelve laps around the track made three miles; we had nine more to go.**

"Three miles," Christian exclaimed. "Dimitri, what were you trying to do? Kill her?"

"Idiot, guardians don't become quick by sitting on our asses doing nothing. We have to run. A lot. We aren't born fast. It's something we acquire. We have a learning curve to compensate for," I say to him.

"Yeah, but three miles. Wow. I'm glad I'm not a guardian," Adrian says.

I roll my eyes at him and turn my attention back to Mikhail.

**When we reached the third-to-last loop, a couple of other novices passed by, preparing to go to the group practice I'd soon be at as well. Seeing me, Mason cheered. "Good form, Rose!"**

**I smiled and waved back.**

"You should really be concentrating on your training, Rose," my mother says. "You can talk to your friends later."

"Dimitri said almost the same thing," I say bitterly.

**"You're slowing down," Dimitri snapped, jerking my gaze from the boys. The harshness in his voice startled me. "Is this why your times aren't getting any faster? You're easily distracted?"**

"Were you mad you weren't the one distracting her?" asks no other than Adrian.

"Ivashkov, I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer," Dimitri says serenely.

"Fine, but your answer was as good as any yes," Adrian says smirking.

"Dimka, were you jealous?" Olena asks.

"Looks like Rose wasn't the only one developing feelings early," Viktoria says.

**Embarrassed, I increased my speed once more, despite the fact that my body started screaming obscenities at me. We finished the twelve laps, and when he checked, he found we'd shaved two minutes off my best time.**

"Maybe he should have run with you everyday," Christian says.

"Maybe I should kick your ass," I retort.

"Rose, you wouldn't hurt me," Christian says with a cocky smile.

"Wanna bet?" I ask with a devious smile.

His smile faltered at that and I could tell he was becoming insecure. Good. He better fear me.

**"Not bad, huh?" I crowed when we headed back inside for cool-down stretches. "Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do."**

"Exactly," Abe says. "Rose may be fast, but I'm sure Lissa isn't as fast as her. No offense to you Lissa."

"None taken," she says.

**"If she was with you, she'd be okay."**

"Was that your lame way of apologizing for being jealous without letting her know you were actually jealous?" Adrian asks.

"No, I was just stating a fact. Do you think Lissa would be okay if she and Rose were attacked in a mall by Strigoi?" Dimitri asks.

Adrian didn't answer, but his silence could be interpreted as a yes.

**I looked up in surprise. It was the first real compliment he'd paid me since I started training with him. His brown eyes watched me, both approving and amused.**

**And that's when it happened.**

"That's when what happened?" my mother and Abe exclaim at the same time.

"You didn't kiss her did you?" Abe practically yells.

"Old man, calm down. Dimitri didn't do anything. If you would listen you would find out that what happened had nothing to do with Dimitri and me," I say angrily.

"Oh, well, I guess we should listen," my mother says.

Yeah, you think, I think to myself.

**I felt like someone had shot me. Sharp and biting, terror exploded in my body and in my head. Small razors of pain. My vision blurred, and for a moment, I wasn't standing there. I was running down a flight of stairs, scared and desperate, needing to get out of there, needing to find…me.**

"What is going on?" Adrian asks.

"Listen and find out," I say to him.

"Rose, are you okay," Sonya asks.

"Yep. I'm just fine."

**My vision cleared, leaving me back on the track and out of Lissa's head. **

"What's wrong with Lissa?" I heard almost everyone in the room asks.

"Listen and find out," I say. Boy was I tired of having to repeat myself. That was not fun.

**Without a word to Dimitri, I tore off, running as fast as I could toward the Moroi dorm. It didn't matter that I'd just put my legs through a mini-marathon. They ran hard and fast, like they were shiny and new. **

"Rose, you're such a good friend. I don't know what I would do without you," Lissa says.

"You would be just fine," I say to her.

"No, I wouldn't."

"Liss, believe me. You would be okay. You would have Christian to help you, and probably Adrian too, so yeah you would be fine. You're a strong minded person. I know you would be okay without me."

She didn't say anything, but she shot me a grateful look, and I returned it with a warm smile.

**Distantly, I was aware of Dimitri catching up to me, asking me what was wrong. But I couldn't answer him. I had one task and one alone: get to the dorm.**

"You understood duty better than any novice I have ever known," Mikhail says. "When I was a novice I didn't take my duty as serious as you did," he finishes before he continues reading.

**Its looming, ivy-covered form was just coming into view when Lissa met up with us, her face streaked with tears. I came to a jarring stop, my lungs ready to burst.**

**"What's wrong? What happened?" I demanded, clutching her arms, forcing her to look into my eyes.**

"You're always so strong in those types of situations," Lissa says. "It will be nice to know what is really going through your mind."

"The only thing on my mind in those kinds of situations is making sure you are alright," I say to her and turn my attention back to Mikhail.

**But she couldn't answer. She just flung her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. I held her there, stroking her sleek, silky hair while I told her it was going to be all right—whatever 'it' was. And honestly, I didn't care what it was just then. She was here, and she was safe, which was all that mattered. **

"I agree," Christian says.

"Me too," my mother chimes in.

**Dimitri hovered over us, alert and ready for any threat, his body coiled to attack. I felt safe with him beside us.**

"I did too," Lissa admits.

**A half hour later, we were crammed inside Lissa's dorm room with three other guardians, Ms. Kirova, and the hall matron. This was the first time I'd seen Lissa's room. Natalie had indeed managed to get her as a roommate, and the two sides of the room were a study in contrasts. **

"I think," I say bitterly, "that her being your roommate was set in motion by her father."

"Now that I think about it," Lissa says, "I agree with you. He would have definitely wanted her to have access to me at all times."

"What are you two talking about?" Karolina asks.

"You'll find out later," Dimitri tells his sister.

**Natalie's looked lived in, with pictures on the wall and a frilly bedspread that wasn't dorm-issue. Lissa had as few possessions as I did, making her half noticeably bare. She did have one picture taped to the wall, a picture taken from last Halloween, when we'd dressed up like fairies, complete with wings and glittery makeup. **

"Mythical creatures dressed up as another type of mythical creature. That had to be a sight to see," Adrian says.

**Seeing that picture and remembering how things used to be made a dull pain form in my chest.**

"I miss when it was just the two of us too," Lissa says.

Christian looked hurt by her comment, so she quickly added, "But I'm happy we returned because I love my life now."

I peeked over at Dimitri and said, "Yeah, I'm happy we came back too." If we had never returned I would have never meet the love of my life. Who knew school was good for something other than learning.

**With all the excitement, no one seemed to remember that I wasn't supposed to be in there. Outside in the hall, other Moroi girls crowded together, trying to figure out what was going on. Natalie pushed her way through them, wondering what the commotion in her room was. **

"That bitch already knew," I say under my breath, and Dimitri shoots me a look that says _be-quiet-because-everyone-doesn't-know-what-happened_.

**When she discovered it, she came to a screeching halt.**

I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from saying the thought that had just crept up into my mind.

**Shock and disgust showed on almost everyone's faces as we stared at Lissa's bed. There was a fox on the pillow. Its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, perhaps a cat, something you'd hold in your arms and snuggle with.**

**Aside from the fact that its throat had been slit.**

**The inside of the throat looked pink and jellylike. Blood stained that soft coat and had run down onto the yellow bedspread, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric. The fox's eyes stared upward, glazed, over with a sort of shocked look about them, like the fox couldn't believe this was happening.**

Everyone in the room let out a gasp, even Mia. She had heard about the fox, but she had never seen it. Reading the book from my point of view was like actually being there in the room and she must have been able to form a clear image of what the fox looked like in her mind. She began to turn green, as did Sonya, Olena, Jill, and Sydney. Everyone else in the room wore disgusted faces.

"Who would do something like that?" Jill asks.

A sick bastard to fucked up for words, I think to myself.

"I have a pretty good idea," Abe says under his breath.

"Why would someone do that to Lissa? She has never done anything to hurt anyone," Adrian says.

"It wasn't done to _hurt _her," Christian says, "but I am not going to say anything more on the topic."

"Mia, you would—," Jill began before Mia cut her off.

"Of course I wouldn't do anything like that. Yeah, at the time I hated Lissa, but I would never kill an animal to get back at her. It wouldn't really do anything. Plus I wouldn't even do dissections in biology. Do you really think I could kill an animal?"

"No," Jill says relieved.

**Nausea built up in my stomach, but I forced myself to keep looking. I couldn't afford to be squeamish. I'd be killing Strigoi someday. If I couldn't handle a fox, I'd never survive major kills.**

"The fox is something entirely different. Killing Strigoi is what we have to do, and it's not messy. We stake it, cut its head off, or set it on fire. But that fox. That was just cruel and unnecessary. You are allowed to get squeamish about that," Alberta says.

"I completely agree with Guardian Petrov," my mother says.

**What had happened to the fox was sick and twisted, obviously done by someone too fucked up for words. **

"I never thought I would say this, but I agree with Rose," Christian says, earning nods from everyone in the room.

**Lissa stared at it, her face death-pale, and took a few steps toward it, hand involuntarily reaching out. **

That's exactly what they wanted her to do, I think to myself.

"Lissa, I don't think you can heal that fox. It was probably too far gone," Adrian says sympathetically.

"Yeah, it probably was," Lissa says, "but don't worry. Rose stopped me before I could attempt to heal it."

**This gross act hit her hard, I knew, digging at her love of animals. She loved them, they loved her. While on our own, she'd often begged me for a pet, but I'd always refused and reminded her we couldn't take care of one when we might have to flee at a moment's notice. **

"Which is also why we couldn't bring a feeder," I say to no one in particular.

**Plus, they hated me. So she'd contented herself with helping and patching up strays she found and making friends with other people's pets, like Oscar the cat.**

**She couldn't patch this fox up, though. There was no coming back for it, but I saw in her face she wanted to help it, like she helped everything. I took her hand and steered her away, suddenly recalling a conversation from two years ago.**

"Good," my mother says.

Abe didn't say anything, but I could see the wheels practically turning in his head. He was trying to put two and two together, and being as intelligent as he is I'm sure he will figure it out by the time Lissa finds the next animal.

**"What is that? Is it a crow?"**

**"Too big. It's a raven."**

**"Is it dead?"**

**"Yeah. Definitely dead. Don't touch it."**

**She hadn't listened to me back then. I hoped she would now.**

"Back when," Karolina asks.

"You'll find out later. I think I end up thinking about that incident later on," I say.

**"It was still alive when I got back," Lissa whispered to me, clutching my arm. "Barely. Oh God, it was twitching. It must have suffered so much."**

That made everyone in the room wince. Imagining what Lissa must have seen when she entered her room.

**I felt bile rise in my throat now. Under no circumstances would I throw up. "Did you—?"**

**"No. I wanted to…I started to…"**

"By that did you two mean healing the fox?" Adrian asks seriously—that was a role we didn't see him in very much. I'm guessing Sydney hadn't seen this side of him much either because she looked rather impressed.

"Yeah," I answer back sheepishly.

**"Then forget about it," I said sharply. "It's stupid. Somebody's stupid joke. They'll clean it up. Probably even give you a new room if you want."**

"I wish I had gotten a new room," Lissa says under her breath, and Christian wraps his arm around her shoulders to comfort her, and she lays her head on his chest.

**She turned to me, eyes almost wild. "Rose…do you remember…that one time…"**

**"Stop it," I said. "Forget about it. This isn't the same thing."**

"I wish we could get more information about _that time _you two keep talking about," Abe growls.

"Calm down old man. You get your information later."

**"What if someone saw? What if someone knows?…"**

**I tightened my grip on her arm, digging my nails in to get her attention. She flinched. **

**"No. It's not the same. It has nothing to do with that. Do you hear me?" I could feel both Natalie and Dimitri's eyes on us.**

That bitch already knew what time Lissa and I had been talking about. With her enhanced hearing she probably heard everything we talked about. As soon as she could I bet she ran and told _daddy _everything Lissa and I had discussed and the state the fox had left her in.

**"It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay."**

**Not looking like she believed me at all, Lissa nodded.**

"I wouldn't have believed you much either if I had been in that situation," Mia says.

"Me either," Jill agrees.

"I didn't even believe myself when I said those words," I say, shocking everyone in the room. "I just said those words to make Lissa feel better. That's what I do. I'm her guardian."

My mother nods her head at me and smiles.

**"Get this cleaned up," Kirova snapped to the matron. "And find out if anyone saw anything."**

**Someone finally realized I was there and ordered Dimitri to take me away, no matter how much I begged them to let me stay with Lissa. **

"That probably would have made Lissa feel better," Christian snapped.

"Yeah, it probably would have, but this is Kirova we're talking about. She doesn't think logically when it comes to Rose Hathaway," I say bitterly.

**He walked me back to the novices' dorm. He didn't speak until we were almost there. "You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?"**

**"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke."**

"You should have told me then instead of waiting," Dimitri says to me.

"Sorry," I say to him, "but I didn't trust you as much as I did later."

"Rose," Lissa says to me, "despite what I said, I really wish you had told sooner. We probably could have minimized all the drama that unfolded."

"I definitely agree, but there is nothing we can do about that now, so we might as well let Mikhail continue reading," I say.

**"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?"**

"I have a pretty good idea," Abe says angrily.

**I considered this. Before we'd left, it could have been any number of people. That was the way it was when you were popular. People loved you, people hated you. But now? Lissa had faded off to a certain extent. The only person who really and truly despised her was Mia, but Mia seemed to fight her battles with words, not actions.**

"At least you realized that before you decided to blame me for it and retaliate sooner," Mia says bitterly.

"Mia, whether you had done it or not I was going to get you back for everything you had done to us so far sooner or later."

"The terrible part is that I actually believe you when you say that."

**And even if she did decide to do something more aggressive, why do this? She didn't seem like the type. There were a million other ways to get back at a person. "No," I told him. "No clue."**

"In all fairness, I don't think any of us could have correctly guessed who was really behind all of that chaos," Dimitri says.

"Yeah, but now that I look back on everything that happened it seems obvious, and I feel like one of us should have figured it out," I say in return.

"Yeah, but we didn't, and we can't do anything to change that now, so we might as well not dwell on the past and events that we can't change."

"You're right. Mikhail can you continue reading now?" I ask.

"Sure," he responds before he continues reading.

**"Rose, if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious."**

**I spun around, taking my anger over the fox out on him. "Yeah, it is serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps every day when I should be learning to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, then teach me something! **_**Teach me how to fight. **_**I already know how to run away."**

"Um, Dimitri if you don't mind me saying this, uh, Rose does have a point," Eddie says.

His only response is, "I took her argument into consideration."

**I didn't realize until that moment how badly I did want to learn, how I wanted to prove myself to him, to Lissa, and to everyone else. The fox incident had made me feel powerless, and I didn't like that. I wanted to do something, **_**anything.**_

"I definitely don't like feeling that way," I say. "I hate it."

"Doesn't everyone?" my mother asks. "No one likes feeling useless when something bad happens. It's the worst feeling in the world."

"Yeah, it really is," I say agreeing with her.

**Dimitri watched my outburst calmly, with no change in his expression. When I finished, he simply beckoned me forward like I hadn't said anything. "Come on. You're late for practice."**

"Wow, talk about tough love," Christian jokes. "But we all know he ended up teaching Rose what he knew considering the fact that she became the deadliest novice in St. Vladimir's Academy history."

"Yeah," Mia agrees. "Can you say badass?"

Everyone laughs at this although we know it's all true.

"So, who wants to read the next chapter? This one is finished," Mikhail says.

"I'll read next," Sonya says.

Mikhail hands her the book and she begins to read.

"Chapter eight," she reads.

**Mark and Oksana will probably arrive after a few more chapters. They are coming from Russia, and that is definitely a long plane trip. They will probably arrive when everyone returns to the room tomorrow. They should be heading back to bed after a couple of chapters. **

**With that being said, I need ideas on how Abe and Viktoria can help Rose get back at Eddie and Christian. **

**R&R. I hope you all liked this chapter. I apologize for any mistakes you may have come across while reading. **

**Please continue to cast your votes for the poll on my profile. If you want a specific person the read the lust charm chapter you need to take my poll. Only those opinions will matter when I begin writing the lust charm chapter. **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N:**

**Don't forget to take the poll if you haven't already.**

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed my last chapter. R&R. I hope you like this chapter. **

**Disclaimer:  
I do not own **_**Vampire Academy**_**. It, along with all of its characters, belongs to Richelle Mead. **

"Chapter eight," Sonya reads.

**BURNING WITH ANGER, I FOUGHT harder and better that day than I ever had in any of my classes with the novices. So much so that I finally won my first hand-to-hand pairing, annihilating Shane Reyes. **

"Good job, Rose," my mother says beaming with pride.

"So," Eddie asks, "does that mean Dimitri's advice about hitting harder actually worked?"

I wanted to prance over to him and smack him. It took everything in me not to do it. When I finally calmed down I asked Sonya to continue reading. Eddie looked hurt that I hadn't acknowledged his joke. If he looked hurt now, then he would look dead by the time I'm done with him tonight. Christian too, I mentally add.

**We'd always gotten along, and he took it good naturedly, applauding my performance, as did a few others.**

"What did you expect him to do: get mad and storm out of the gym?" Eddie asks.

"No," I reply dryly.

"By a few others, did you mean just Mason?" Christian asks snarkily.

"I said _others _dumb ass, not other, but if you musk know, then yes Mason was _one_ of the _people_ who applauded my performance," I retort.

"No need for the attitude, Rose. I was just asking," Christian says with a smirk on his face.

"Sonya, can you please continue reading?" I ask angrily.

"Sure," she replies.

**"The comeback's starting," observed Mason after class.**

**"So it would seem."**

"Oh, yeah, it's definitely starting," Adrian says, "but little dhampir, I was always under the impression that you were always a badass. I didn't know you were getting beat up in class."

Concealing my angry thoughts I calmly say, "I'm a badass now, which is all that matters, but if you keep talking you will experience the beating I gave Shane. Am I understood?"

That made Adrian shut up and turn deathly pale. As I surveyed the room I could see disapproval radiating from my mother and Dimitri, and I could see pride radiating from Abe. Lissa and everyone else looked either amused or indifferent.

**He gently touched my arm. "How's Lissa?"**

"That was sweet of him to ask," Lissa says, her voice full of emotion.

I could read her thoughts through the bond and to sum them up she felt like no one other than me would have cared whether she was fine or not. Finding out that other people really did care about her made her feel really good.

"Liss, you are one of the nicest people I know, why wouldn't people care about your wellbeing?" I ask her.

She didn't reply she just shot me a knowing smile.

**It didn't surprise me that he knew. Gossip spread so fast around here sometimes, it felt like everyone had a psychic bond.**

"That is so true," Mia says, "I'm so happy to be out of high school."

"Lucky you," Viktoria says. "I'm still in high school."

I had forgotten that Viktoria was younger than us.

"You shouldn't rush your time," I wisely tell her. "Being out of school and out in the real world is no small feat. It's not all it's cracked up to be."

That comment earned nods from all the adults in the room, especially the guardians. Then out of no where Dimitri placed a hand on top of mine, and laced our fingers together. I don't think anyone noticed because by now Sonya had begun reading again.

**"Okay. Coping." I didn't elaborate on how I knew that. Our bond was a secret from the student body.**

"You know you could have trusted Mase," Eddie says seriously.

"Yeah, I know," I reply.

**"Mase, you claim to know about Mia. You think she might have done that?"**

"No, I absolutely positively did not do that. I hated you two at the time, but there is no way in hell I would do something like that," Mia shouts, then she bitterly adds, "And what is Mason supposed to be. An expert on me."

"No, but he did know you better than I did," I tell her.

She just rolls her eyes at me and motions for Sonya to continue reading.

**"Whoa, hey, I'm not an expert on her or anything. But honestly? No. Mia won't even do dissections in biology. I can't picture her actually catching a fox, let alone, um, killing it."**

"Thank you!" Mia exclaims. "At least someone believes I'm innocent."

"I knew you were innocent of the fox thing," Eddie says.

That made Mia blush. I have to think about how I can use their little crush against them—or more appropriately against Eddie.

**"Any friends who might do it for her?"**

"The people Mia hung around were not the types to get their hands dirty," Christian says.

"Yeah, I'm enlightened by Mason in a few moments."

**He shook his head. "Not really. They're not really the types to get their hands dirty either. But who knows?"**

**Lissa was still shaken when I met her for lunch later, her mood made worse when Natalie and her crew wouldn't shut up about the fox. Apparently Natalie had overcome her disgust enough to enjoy the attention the spectacle had brought her.**

"I bet she did overcome her disgust," I say bitterly.

"Rose, shut up," Christian says. "Everyone doesn't know what happened, and if you keep making comments like that they are bound to find out sooner than they should."

"Actually, I think you just gave them more information than any of my comments ever have," I say to him with a smirk on my face.

"Rose, you really should stop commenting on this situation. You can't change it," Dimitri says.

"Fine," I reply haughtily.

**Maybe she wasn't as content with her fringe status as I'd always believed.**

I had to bite my tongue because I could feel another comment dying to be let free.

**"And it was just **_**there," **_**she explained, waving her hands for emphasis. "Right in the middle of the bed. There was blood **_**everywhere."**_

Sonya stops reading and asks, "How could she be so inconsiderate. She should have known Lissa wouldn't want to hear about this. Plus weren't you guys at _lunch_. Who wants to hear about that kind of thing when they are eating?"

"I completely agree," my mother says. "What was wrong with that girl?"

"You'll find out," I say to her and Sonya. "Can you please continue reading," I ask Sonya, and she nods her head, but before she could someone decided to keep the commentary going.

"Oh God, did _Rose Hathaway _just say the word please _and _mean it?" Christian asks.

"Why Christian, I think she did," Eddie says.

"You two are _not _funny," I say, "and I will make you regret the day you learned to talk. Mark my words," I add dangerously.

They roll their eyes at me like they don't believe me. That's on them. I did try to warn them. Now they have just entered a war they can't win, and there will be no turning back.

**Lissa looked as green as the sweater she wore, and I pulled her away before I even finished my food and immediately launched into a string of obscenities about Natalie's social skills.**

"Good," Viktoria says. "I really don't like that girl."

I wish I had been as perceptive as Viktoria. If I had then Lissa wouldn't have been captured and tortured.

"I normally don't condone cursing, but in that situation I think it was needed," Sydney says. "Don't take that the wrong way because I still don't approve of it," she adds after she sees the look on my face.

"Wait…did that book just say Rose pulled away from the table _before _she was finished eating?" Eddie asks.

"Yes," Sonya says amused. Although I didn't see her much while I was in Russia I'm sure she remembers my large appetite.

"Eddie go look out he window and make sure the sky isn't red," Christian says in terror, then he and Eddie hit the ground laughing.

Ignoring them didn't work because it seemed like the more I tried to ignore them the louder their laughter became. Just as I was about to march over to them and shut them up myself they stopped laughing and asked Sonya to continue reading.

**"She's nice," Lissa said automatically. "You were just telling me the other day how much you liked her."**

Lissa and I both had mortified expressions plastered over our faces. How could we have been so stupid?

**"I do like her, but she's just incompetent about certain things."**

I groan at this statement, and Dimitri shots me a look that basically says shut up.

**We stood outside our animal behavior class, and I noticed people giving us curious looks and whispering as they passed. I sighed.**

"Shouldn't you of all people be used to the whole gossip thing?" Eddie asks. "Most of the school gossip did normally involve you."

"Just because I was used to it didn't mean I liked it," I say bitterly.

**"How are you doing with all this?"**

"Ah, Rose does have a heart," Christian says sarcastically.

"And so do you," I say, "but if you continue talking it won't be beating for much longer."

"Rose," Lissa chastises.

"What," I ask incredulously, "he was begging for it."

**A half-smile crossed her face. "Can't you already feel it?"**

**"Yeah, but I want to hear it from you."**

"Rose, you are really a good friend," Lissa says.

"That's my job," I say to her, earning another smile from her.

**"I don't know. I'll be okay. I wish everyone wouldn't keep staring at me like I'm some kind of freak."**

**My anger exploded again. The fox was bad. People upsetting her made it worse, but at least I could do something about them. "Who's bothering you?"**

"You sounded so much like your father when you said that," my mother says.

"That's a scary thought," Sydney says.

"It really is," Adrian says, no doubt remembering the time Abe threatened to severely injure him if he ever hurt me.

"You know you can't beat up everyone you have a problem with, right," Dimitri says to me.

"That doesn't mean I can't try," I say.

He rolls his eyes at me and Abe nods his head in approval.

**"Rose, you can't beat up everyone we have a problem with."**

"I'm so glad Lissa is the one with common sense," my mother says.

"Hey," I exclaim, "I have common sense."

"Sure you do," Christian says.

Again, I had to resist the urge to walk across the room and beat him to death.

**"Mia?" I guessed.**

"Why does she always have to be the scapegoat," Mikhail asks, and Mia shoots him a grateful look.

"Because she was the only one we really had a problem with," I reply.

"That doesn't mean she is the only one out to get you two," Jill says.

"How right you are," Abe says to Jill.

"Sonya, you can continue reading now," I say.

**"And others," she said evasively. "Look, it doesn't matter. What I want to know is how this could have…that is, I can't stop thinking about that time—"**

"What is _that time _that you two continuously refer to?" Yeva asks. "I am tired of you hinting at it, but never telling us."

"Don't worry, you will find out soon enough," I say to her.

**"Don't," I warned.**

**"Why do you keep pretending that didn't happen? You of all people. You made fun of Natalie for going on and on, but it's not like you've got a good grip on your control switch. You'll normally talk about anything."**

"That is so true," Christian says. "And I'm talking about the part where Lissa says you don't have a good grip on your control switch."

That was true because I was about to hop out of my seat and cheerfully beat him to death. Luckily for Christian, Dimitri had a restraining grip on me.

**"But not **_**that. **_**We need to forget about it. It was a long time ago. We don't even really know what happened."**

**She stared at me with those big green eyes, calculating her next argument.**

"Why even try, winning an argument with Rose is nearly impossible. The only person we know who could probably win an argument with her is Dimitri," Eddie says.

"Hey, what about me?" Abe asks.

"Old man, there is no way you could out argue me," I say.

"Wanna bet," he says.

"No, I don't actually because I have better things to do than embarrass you."

He didn't have a good comeback for that so he just said, "We'll see about that."

**"Hey, Rose."**

"Who is that," Adrian asks.

"Adrian, you always interrupt at the wrong times. If you would have stayed quiet then you would know who greeted me by now."

"And if you hadn't responded then I would know."

"And if you hadn't responded to my response then you would know by now."

"And if you hadn't responded to my response about your response then I would know."

"You know what Adrian, just shut up. I don't have time for this right now. You are just being ridiculous," I say angrily.

"Does that mean I won the argument? Looks like Belikov isn't the only one who can beat her in an argument," Adrian says happily.

"Whatever," I say, resisting the urge to smack him.

Sydney glares at Adrian and rolled her eyes. Then she turns her attention back to Sonya.

**Our conversation dropped as Jesse strolled up to us. I turned on my best smile.**

"Why, why, why," I ask myself, hitting my head against the back of my chair.

"Rose," Dimitri warns.

**"Hey."**

**He nodded cordially to Lissa. "So hey, I'm going to be in your dorm tonight for a study group. You think…maybe…"**

"Please tell me you said no," my mother says to me.

"Don't worry we didn't do much," I say looking directly at Dimitri.

Eddie, Christian, Lissa, and Mia begin laughing because they understand what I am talking about.

"What's so funny?" Alberta asks.

"Don't worry you'll find out soon," I say to her.

**Momentarily forgetting Lissa, I focused my full attention on Jesse. Suddenly, I so needed to do something wild and bad. Too much had happened today. "Sure."**

"Is that your way of erasing everything that happened?" my mother asks in exasperation.

I just shrug my shoulders and turn my attention back to Sonya.

**He told me when he'd be there, and I told him I'd meet him in one of the common areas with "further instructions."**

"How did you plan on making that happen?" Viktoria asks.

"I've had plenty of practice at sneaking in and out of places I shouldn't be," I say to her. "After all I am his," I say pointing at Abe, "daughter."

"By sneaking in and out of places, what do you mean?" Alberta asks.

I could se the hint of a smile on Mikhail's face. He must be remembering the time he caught me trying to sneak out of the guardian's headquarters.

"I'm sure you will find out later. I actually do a lot of sneaking in and out of places," I say, and I mentally add, with the help of others.

**Lissa stared at me when he left. "You're under house arrest. They won't let you hang out and talk to him."**

"They don't have to," Christian says. "This is Rose we are talking about. If she wants something bad enough no one is going to stop her from getting it."

"Yeah, you're right," Lissa says.

**"I don't really want to 'talk' to him. We'll slip away."**

"Can I have that boy's last name and place of residency?" Abe asks.

"No you can not. You will not go around doing god only knows what to people and justify your actions as defending my honor," I say to him.

He narrows his eyes at me but agrees nonetheless.

**She groaned. "I just don't know about you sometimes."**

"Neither do I and I gave birth to her," my mother says.

Dimitri chuckled at that comment, but I didn't find it the least bit humorous.

**"That's because you're the cautious one, and I'm the reckless one."**

"How true," Mia says.

"I'm sure you would know all about that," I say deviously to Mia, and she shoots me a glare. I roll my eyes at her weak attempt to strike fear in me and motion for Sonya to continue reading.

**Once animal behavior started, I pondered the likelihood of Mia being responsible. From the smug look on her psycho-angel face, she certainly seemed to be enjoying the sensation caused by the bloody fox. But that didn't mean she was the culprit, and after observing her over the last couple of weeks, I knew she'd enjoy anything that upset Lissa and me. She didn't need to be the one who had done it.**

"At least _you _believe it now," Mia says.

"Yep, your face is safe for a little bit longer," I say to her deviously.

Lissa shakes her head at my comment.

**"Wolves, like many other species, differentiate their packs into alpha males and alpha females whom the others defer to. Alphas are almost always the strongest physically, though many times, confrontations turn out to be more a matter of willpower and personality. When an alpha is challenged and replaced, that wolf may find himself ostracized from the group or even attacked."**

**I looked up from my daydreams and focused on Ms. Meissner.**

"Rose, paying attention in class. I must have died and gone to Hell," Eddie says, making Christian, Lissa, and Mia laugh.

"That is not funny," I say between clenched teeth.

"Sure it's not," Christian says sarcastically.

**"Most challenges are likely to occur during mating season," she continued. This, naturally, brought snickers from the class. **

"Why must teenagers be so immature?" Karolina asks.

"Who knows? I guess it's just in their nature," Alberta responds.

Why were they talking about teenagers like that when they had once been teenagers themselves?

"You two are aware of the fact that once upon a time you were teenagers also," I say.

"Yes," they say together.

**"In most packs, the alpha pair are the **_**only **_**ones who mate. If the alpha male is an older, seasoned wolf, a younger competitor may think he has a shot. Whether that is true works on a case-by-case basis. The young often don't realize how seriously outclassed they are by the more experienced."**

"That can certainly apply to real life," my mother says.

**The old-and-young-wolf thing notwithstanding, I thought the rest was pretty relevant. Certainly in the Academy's social structure, I decided bitterly, there seemed to be a lot of alphas and challenges.**

"That I definitely agree with," Mia says.

"So do I," Lissa says.

**Mia raised her hand. "What about foxes? Do **_**they **_**have alphas too?"**

Everyone in the room turned to look at her like she was crazy, except me, Lissa, Christian, and Eddie.

"Give her a break. We all know she hated me and Lissa at the time. It's not like she would say that now," I say coming to Mia's defense.

"Thanks," Mia says to me once everyone has their attention back on Sonya.

**There was a collective intake of breath from the class, followed by a few nervous giggles. No one could believe Mia had gone there.**

"Neither could I," I say under my breath, but no one heard me.

**Ms. Meissner flushed with what I suspected was anger. "We're discussing wolves today, Miss Rinaldi."**

"That's right, set her straight," Adrian says jokingly.

**Mia didn't seem to mind the subtle chastising, and when the class paired off to work on an assignment, she spent more time looking over at us and giggling. Through the bond, I could feel Lissa growing more and more upset as images of the fox kept flashing through her mind.**

"Sorry Lissa," Mia says.

"All's forgiven Mia. You don't have to continue apologizing every time you do something to us," Lissa replies.

Mia shoots Lissa a grateful smile, and Lissa returns it.

**"Don't worry," I told her. "I've got a way—"**

**"Hey, Lissa," someone interrupted.**

"That can't be good," Sydney says.

"Oh, believe me, it wasn't, but the outcome was," I say looking at Christian.

**We both looked up as Ralf Sarcozy stopped by our desks. **

I saw Mia flinch at the mention of Ralf.

**He wore his trademark stupid grin, and I had a feeling he'd come over here on a dare from his friends.**

"That would be the only way he willingly terrorized you," Eddie says.

"Not the only way," I say bitterly, and Mia flinched again.

**"So, admit it," he said. "You killed the fox. You're trying to convince Kirova you're crazy so that you can get out of here again."**

"How in the hell would that make Kirova let you leave?" Adrian asks.

"That boy is really dumb. I won't even waste my time and resources on him," Abe says.

**"Screw you," I told him in a low voice.**

"You really shouldn't have said that," Viktoria says. "He seems like the type to use that statement against you."

"Oh, he did, but Rose can handle herself," Lissa says proudly.

**"Are you offering?"**

"Told you so," Viktoria says.

**"From what I've heard, there isn't much to screw," I shot back.**

"Nice comeback Rose," Adrian says grinning.

**"Wow," he said mockingly. "You **_**have **_**changed. Last I remembered, you weren't too picky about who you got naked with."**

"Weren't you a virgin?" Sydney asks.

"Yep," I say.

"Then where did he get that from?" she asks.

"I'm telling you that boy is as dumb as a sack of bricks," Abe says.

**"And the last I remember, the only people you ever saw naked were on the Internet."**

"Yeah, he is so not going to win that argument," Christian says.

"Yeah, because you decided to take matters into your own hands," I say to him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jill asks.

"Don't worry jailbait you'll find out soon just like the rest of us," Adrian says.

**He cocked his head in an overly dramatic fashion. "Hey, I just got it: it was you, wasn't it?" He looked at Lissa, then back at me. "She got **_**you **_**to kill the fox, didn't she? Some weird kind of lesbian voo—ahhh!"**

"Oh, god. Rose you didn't punch him did you? You know you could get expelled for getting into a fight," Sydney says.

"No, I didn't have anything to do with this," I say.

"Then what's…never mind I think I will just wait and listen," Adrian says.

**Ralf burst into flames.**

Everyone in the room turned to look at Christian.

"What," he exclaims.

**I jumped up and pushed Lissa out of the way—not easy to do, since we were sitting at our desks. We both ended up on the floor as screams—Ralf's in particular—filled the classroom and Ms. Meissner sprinted for the fire extinguisher.**

"I can't believe you did that," Jill says to Christian wide-eyed.

"You really shouldn't have," Lissa scolds him. "Rose had the situation under control."

"I agree," Tasha says. "Do you know how much trouble you could have gotten into? You can't go around using offensive magic, especially on other people."

"Calm down," Christian says to Tasha. "I didn't get into much trouble."

**And then, just like that, the flames disappeared. Ralf was still screaming and patting himself down, but he didn't have a single singe mark on him. The only indication of what had happened was the lingering smell of smoke in the air.**

Tasha sakes her head and says, "Christian what if you had lost control of that spell and he ended up seriously injured."

"I didn't and he didn't get injured, so no harm done," he says.

**For several seconds, the entire classroom froze. Then, slowly, everyone put the pieces together. Moroi magical specializations were well known, and after scanning the room, I deduced three fire users: Ralf, his friend Jacob, and—**

**Christian Ozera.**

**Since neither Jacob nor Ralf would have set Ralf on fire, it sort of made the culprit obvious. The fact that Christian was laughing hysterically sort of gave it away too.**

"Could you have been any more obvious?" I ask.

"Yeah, I could have written _I set Ralf on fire _on my forehead," he says sarcastically.

I roll my eyes at him and let Sonya continue reading.

**Ms. Meissner changed from red to deep purple. "Mr. Ozera!" she screamed. "How dare you—do you have any idea—report to Headmistress Kirova's office now!"**

"Someone is extremely astounded," Viktoria says dryly.

"And she should be. What Christian did was wrong," my mother says.

**Christian, completely unfazed, stood up and slung his backpack over one shoulder. That smirk stayed on his face. "Sure thing, Ms. Meissner."**

Jill was still staring at Christian wide-eyed.

"Looks like Rose isn't the only one who lives in Headmistress Kirova's office," Eddie jokes.

**He went out of his way to walk past Ralf, who quickly backed away as he passed.**

"Isn't intimidation Rose's thing?" Eddie asks Christian.

"Yeah, but it seemed too good to pass up," Christian responds. "I see why Rose gets a thrill out of it. That was really exhilarating."

I roll my eyes at their stupidity.

**The rest of the class stared, open-mouthed.**

"I bet they did," Tasha says.

**After that, Ms. Meissner attempted to return the class to normal, but it was a lost cause. No one could stop talking about what had happened. It was shocking on a few different levels. First, no one had ever seen that kind of spell: a massive fire that didn't actually burn anything. Second, Christian had used it offensively. He had attacked another person. Moroi never did that. They believed magic was meant to take care of the earth, to help people live better lives. It was never, ever used as a weapon. Magic instructors never taught those kinds of spells; I don't think they even knew any. **

"I don't think they knew any of them either," Christian says.

**Finally, craziest of all, **_**Christian **_**had done it. Christian, whom no one ever noticed or gave a damn about . Well, they'd noticed him now.**

"Hey," he shouts.

"What I'm just stating facts. If you don't like them then oh well," I say to him.

He shoots me a glare that I pointedly ignore.

**It appeared someone still knew offensive spells after all, and as much as I had enjoyed the look of terror on Ralf's face, it suddenly occurred to me that Christian might really and truly be a psycho.**

"Not as much as you are," he says to me.

"That I can agree with," Eddie says.

I ignored their comments and kept my attention on Sonya.

**"Liss," I said as we walked out of class, "please tell me you haven't hung out with him again."**

"She had. Everyday actually," Christian says triumphantly.

**The guilt that flickered through the bond told me more than any explanation could.**

"I hate that sometimes," Lissa says. "I can never get away with anything."

"Yeah, but it also allows me to keep you safe," I say to her seriously.

**"Liss!" I grabbed her arm.**

**"Not that much," she said uneasily. "He's really okay—"**

"Thank you," Christian shouts.

**"Okay? **_**Okay?" **_**People in the hall stared at us. I realized I was practically shouting. "He's out of his mind. **_**He set Ralf on fire. **_**I thought we decided you weren't going to see him anymore."**

"Actually, you decided that for her," Mia says.

"Oh shut up. Did I ask you?" I say stonily shooting her a glare.

She just laughs at me.

**"You decided, Rose. Not me." There was an edge in her voice I hadn't heard in a while.**

"Good for you Lissa," Eddie says. "You should stand up to bullies."

All guardians have a gun and a stake concealed on them, and I almost pulled my gun out and shot Eddie point blank in the chest.

**"What's going on here? Are you guys…you know?…"**

**"No!" she insisted. "I told you that already. God." She shot me a look of disgust. "Not everyone thinks—and acts—like you."**

"Ouch," Mia says.

"That has got to hurt, especially coming from your best friend," Eddie says.

The urge to shot him was growing with every second.

**I flinched at the words. Then we noticed that Mia was passing by. She hadn't heard the conversation but had caught the tone. A snide smile spread over her face. "Trouble in paradise?"**

"You just had to say something didn't you?" I ask her.

"It was too good to pass up," she says honestly.

**"Go find your pacifier, and shut the hell up," I told her, not waiting to hear her response. Her mouth dropped open, then tightened into a scowl.**

"That was funny," Adrian says hitting the floor laughing. Eddie and Jill hit the floor next. Once they stopped laughing Sonya began reading again, but not before Mia could throw a glare Eddie's way.

**Lissa and I walked on in silence, and then Lissa burst out laughing. Like that, our fight diffused.**

"You two are like a best friends dream team. I wish I had a friendship like the two of you have," Sydney says.

"Me too," Mia says.

**"Rose…" Her tone was softer now.**

**"Lissa, he's dangerous. I don't like him. Please be careful."**

"I'm not dangerous," Christian shouts.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is coming from the boy who set someone on fire," I say, and he immediately shut up.

**She touched my arm. "I am. I'm the cautious one, remember? You're the reckless one." **

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" I ask.

"Yes, it was," she says.

**I hoped that was still true.**

**But later, after school, I had my doubts. I was in my room doing homework when I felt a trickle of what could only be called sneakiness coming from Lissa. **

"Good for you Lissa. You can't let Rose dictate your life," Adrian says.

I shoot him a glare and he shuts up.

**Losing track of my work, I stared off into space, trying to get a more detailed understanding of what was happening to her. If ever there was a time for me to slip into her mind, it was now, but I didn't know how to control that.**

"Good," Lissa says. "I hope you never learn to control that."

I don't say anything, and Sonya continues reading.

**Frowning, I tried to think what normally made that connection occur. Usually she was experiencing some strong emotion, an emotion so powerful it tried to blast into my mind. I had to work hard to fight against that; I always sort of kept a mental wall up.**

"Please don't spy on my conversation," Lissa pleads. "It's not meant for you to hear."

"I figured that much out when I felt you trying to be sneaky," I say to her.

**Focusing on her now, I tried to remove the wall. I steadied my breathing and cleared my mind. My thoughts didn't matter, only hers did. I needed to open myself to her and let us connect.**

"What do you mean you had to clear your mind?" Christian asks. "I didn't think you ever had anything going on up there, so what is there to clear?"

"Thoughts of Dimitri," I heard someone mutter under his breath, and I would bet my life that it had been Eddie.

**I'd never done anything like this before; I didn't have the patience for meditation. **

"What do you have the patience for?" Christian asks.

I just ignore him.

**My need was so strong, however, that I forced myself into an intense, focused relaxation. I needed to know what was going on with her, and after a few more moments, my effort paid off.**

**I was in.**

"I wish you hadn't gotten in," Lissa says. "Now everyone will get to hear my conversation."

"That was the end of chapter eight," Sonya says. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Karolina volunteers.

Sonya hands her the book and she begins reading.

"Chapter nine," she says.

**I hope you liked the chapter. R&R. **

**Give me suggestions on what you think Rose should do to Eddie and Christian to get them back. **

**Don't forget to take my poll if you haven't already. **

**As always, I am sorry for any mistakes you may have come across while reading this chapter. **


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:**

**Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. If you haven't done so already then you should take the poll on my profile. The person with the most votes is the one who will read the lust charm chapter. I also still need suggestions for Rose's revenge on Eddie and Christian. **

**R&R**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own **_**Vampire Academy**_** or any of the characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead. **

"Chapter nine," Karolina reads.

**I SNAPPED INTO HER MIND, once again seeing and directly experiencing what went on around her.**

"Rose, the conversation I'm about to have is private. You shouldn't be spying on me," Lissa says outraged.

"Liss, calm down. Everyone in the room is going to hear, what, five minuets of your conversation. Considering the fact that my _life _from the time we returned to the academy until now is on display for all to hear I don't think you have any room to complain," I retort.

"I guess you have a point," she says softly, "but that doesn't mean I condone you spying on me," she adds bitterly.

"I know you don't like it, but that's not going to stop me from doing it. What's done is done. We can't go back and change it, so whenever I spy on you you're just going to have to deal with it," I say.

"Sometimes you aren't so nice," she says.

"Like I said in the book, you don't keep me around to be nice," I say. "Now, Karolina, if you don't mind can you continue reading?" I ask.

"Sure, Rose," she says.

**She was sneaking into the chapel's attic again, confirming my worst fears. **

"And by worst fears you mean hanging out with me, right," Christian says snarkily.

"Yep, so now that you've stated the obvious can we continue reading?" I ask him.

He narrows his eyes at me, but he doesn't say a word so Karolina continues reading.

**Like last time, she met no resistance. **_**Good God, **_**I thought, **_**could that priest be any worse about securing his own chapel?**_

"Why would he secure the chapel?" Sydney asks. "It is God's house, and if people want to come and go as they please then the priest can't stop them from doing so. He can't keep people who are willing to grow closer to God away from the chapel just because you don't want Lissa associating with Christian."

I was at a loss for words, so Christian decided to take this opportunity to voice his thoughts on the situation. "I agree with Sydney. I couldn't have said it better myself."

"You're not off the hook that easily," Sydney says. "The chapel is a place of worship, not some secret lair that you can go to just for the sole purpose of making yourself look good and holding private meetings," she adds angrily.

"That's right Sydney, put them in their place," Eddie says laughing.

"You have no room to talk, Eddie. You are just as big of a hypocrite as Christian and me. What Sydney says applies to you too," I say to him.

"No, it doesn't actually because I didn't vote to have the chapel closed down so Lissa couldn't associate with Christian, and I didn't go to the chapel every Sunday just to spend extra time with Lissa. Nor did I use it as a resource to make myself look good or conduct private meetings," he says self-righteously.

Alright smartass. Now it's time to put you in your place. "But Eddie, that's my point exactly. Christian and I at least _used_ the chapel. You didn't even do that. Hell, you didn't even go," I say smugly.

"Yeah, you two _used _it alright. You milked it and took all you could from it. Yeah, Rose you went to the chapel, but you didn't go to get closer to God. You went to socialize. Christian went to make him self look good and to stalk Lissa. Yeah, I didn't go to the chapel, but I didn't use it for my own personal gain either, which means I am not as big of a hypocrite as you and Christian. I'm a saint compared to you two. I'm shocked God hasn't stuck you two down with lightning yet," Eddie replies.

He was really starting to piss me off again. Why doesn't he just shut the hell up? I think everyone in the room sensed me growing more irritable because they all tensed, but some tried to diffuse the fight before it started.

"Rose, you need to calm down," Dimitri says to me looking straight into my eyes. For some unknown reason I began to calm down. It was probably due to the fact that his chocolate brown eyes were so easy to get lost in. I was so far gone that I barley heard the next words that were spoken.

"And Eddie you should really keep the comments to a minimum," Mia says.

Turning away from me Dimitri says, "I think that's a good idea. Now Karolina can you continue reading, please?"

"Okay," she replies and begins to read again.

**Sun rise lit up the stained-glass window, and Christian's silhouette was framed against it: he was sitting in the window seat.**

**"You're late," he told her." Been waiting a while."**

"Didn't you set someone on fire?" Adrian asks incredulously. "Shouldn't you be in detention or being help prisoner in your room or something?"

"I had already received my punishment. Plus it's not hard to sneak out of the dorms. Rose has already proven that," Christian says. "Or rater she will prove it whenever she goes to see Jesse," he adds.

"If I was running that school you wouldn't be sneaking in and out of dorms," Abe says.

That is a chilling thought. Abe running a school. There is no telling what kinds of horrors would take place at that school or what kinds of gruesome grisly punishments the students would have to endure. Thinking about it sent more chills down my spine.

**Lissa pulled up one of the rickety chairs, brushing dust off it. "I figured you'd be tied up with Headmistress Kirova."**

"Looks like we were all wrong," Jill says.

**He shook his head. "Not much to it. They suspended me for a week, that's all. Not like it's hard to sneak out." He waved his hands around. "As you can see."**

"One week," my mother exclaims. "You set someone on _fire _and you only get suspended for one week. What kind of punishment is that?"

"I'm happy you only got a week," Tasha says, "but you definitely deserved more."

"Mom, to answer your question, it wasn't a punishment. For Christian it was a pat on the back," I say.

"You've got that right," Christian says.

**"I'm surprised you didn't get more time."**

"He should have gotten more time. He set someone on _fire_," my mother shouts. "Am I the only one who sees how unjust that is?"

"We already know he set someone on fire. No need for you to keep emphasizing it," I say to my mother.

She just glares at me, but she doesn't say anything else pertaining to Christian's punishment.

**A patch of sunlight lit up his crystal-blue eyes. "Disappointed?"**

"You're damn straight. You set someone on fire and you get one lousy week, but I 'deface school property' and run away and I almost get kicked out on my ass. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement," I say angrily.

"I guess Kirova just liked me better," Christian says snarkily.

"That's hard to believe," I mutter.

**She looked shocked. "You set someone on fire!"**

"My sentiments exactly," my mother and I shout at the same time.

Abe has an amused look on his face, as does Dimitri. What do they find so interesting?

**"No, I didn't. Did you see any burns on him?"**

"Just because there were no burns on him doesn't mean you didn't set him on fire," Sydney shouts outraged again.

Christian rolls his eyes at that and ignores her.

**"He was covered in flames."**

**"I had them under control. I kept them off of him."**

**She sighed. "You shouldn't have done that."**

"You really shouldn't have," Tasha says.

He just shrugs his shoulders. "There's nothing that can be done about that now. What's done is done."

She stares at him wide-eyed, but he motions for Karolina to continue reading.

**Straightening out of his lounging position, he sat up and leaned toward her. "I did it for you."**

"Yeah, I'm sure Lissa wanted you to set Ralf on fire to show your unwavering love for her," Mia says sarcastically.

I start laughing. "Mia, you took the words right out of my mouth."

"I'm glad she could be of assistance," Christian says coldly.

**"You attacked someone for me?"**

"She doesn't seem too impressed to me," Adrian says.

Christian looked like he wanted to punch Adrian in the face. Now he knows how it feels to have everyone throwing sarcastic comments your way.

**"Sure. He was giving you and Rose a hard time. She was doing an okay job against him, I guess, but I figured she could use the backup. Besides, this'll shut anyone else up about the whole fox thing, too."**

"He did have a point," Mikhail says. "With everything he did I had forgotten about the fox incident, so I'm sure your classmates would have forgotten too. Yeah, what he did was wrong but it will probably end up helping Lissa out."

"How right you are," Lissa says to him. "It did actually stop most of the people from talking about the fox."

"At least until they got some new gossip," I add bitterly, and Mia flinched.

"And by the way you said that I'm sure it involves you," Viktoria says. "Are you going to tell us what it is or are you going to make us wait?"

"You are definitely going to have to wait. I don't want to talk about it," I say, and then motion for Karolina to continue reading.

**"You shouldn't have done that," she repeated, looking away. She didn't know how to feel about this "generosity." **

"I wouldn't know how to feel either if someone claimed they set another person on fire for me," Sonya says.

**"And don't act like it was all for me. You **_**liked **_**doing it. Part of you wanted to—just because."**

"Someone knows Christian pretty well to say she's only known him for a few weeks at the most," Eddie says.

Lissa blushes but doesn't say anything.

**Christian's smug expression dropped, replaced by one of uncharacteristic surprise.**

"Looks like she was right," Jill says.

"Yes she was," I say just to piss Christian off.

Now he looks like he wants to punch me. I wish he would. Unlike Adrian I am a trained guardian. I would hand him his ass on a silver platter—or more appropriately hand it to Lissa because I'm sure he wouldn't live through a Rose Hathaway beating.

**Lissa might not be psychic, but she had a startling ability to read people.**

**Seeing him off guard, she continued. "Attacking someone else with magic is forbidden—and that's **_**exactly **_**why you wanted to do it. You got a thrill out of it."**

"Most people get high off vampire bites, but Christian had to be the weirdo who gets high off attacking people with fire," I say.

That made everyone in the room laugh, except Christian of course. He looked about ready to blow a gasket.

**"Those rules are stupid. If we used magic as a weapon instead of just for warm and fuzzy shit, Strigoi wouldn't keep killing so many of us."**

"That's true," Jill says trying to appease Christian, but mostly because she believes it as much as he does.

He gives her a small smile then his usual scowl returns to his facial features.

**"It's wrong," she said firmly. "Magic is a gift. It's peaceful."**

"Spirit is," Adrian says. "The rest of those elements are weapons of mass destruction."

"No they aren't," Abe says outraged.

"I was just joking," Adrian says turning pale.

"You better had been joking," Abe threatens.

**"Only because they say it is. You're repeating the party line we've been fed our whole lives." He stood up and paced the small space of the attic. "It wasn't always that way, you know. We used to fight, right along with the guardians—centuries ago. Then people started getting scared and stopped. Figured it was safer to just hide. They forgot the attack spells."**

"Someone didn't," Olena says.

"Of course _he _didn't," I say. "If it can be used to torment others then why wouldn't Christian know it?"

He shoots me a glare, and I roll my eyes at him.

**"Then how did you know that one?"**

"He obviously didn't forget," I say.

**He crooked her a smile. "Not everyone forgot."**

**"Like your family? Like your parents?"**

"Ouch. That has got to hurt," Eddie says.

"Sorry," Lissa says.

"You've already been forgiven," Christian says to her.

**The smile disappeared. "You don't know anything about my parents."**

**His face darkened, his eyes grew hard. To most people, he might have appeared scary and intimidating, but as Lissa studied and admired his features, he suddenly seemed very, very vulnerable.**

"Looks like someone wasn't being truthful when she said she didn't like Christian. She _was_ just _admiring _his features," Mia says.

Lissa blushed again.

**"You're right," she admitted softly, after a moment. "I don't. I'm sorry."**

"That has got to be a first," I say echoing my future comment.

Christian narrows his eyes at me once again and I laugh out loud. "Was that supposed to intimidate me?"

He just continues glaring at me and I roll my eyes.

**For the second time in this meeting, Christian looked astonished. Probably no one apologized to him that often. Hell, no one even talked to him that often. Certainly no one ever listened. Like usual, he quickly turned into his cocky self.**

"Rose, you sure can be a bitch sometimes," Christian says.

"Thank you for pointing that out," I say to him sarcastically.

**"Forget it." Abruptly, he stopped pacing and knelt in front of her so they could look each other in the eye. Feeling him so close made her hold her breath. **

"Someone is crushing hard," Mia says.

Lissa blushes again. "That is why I don't want Rose spying on me. You all shouldn't even be hearing this conversation."

"Too bad," I say to her. "If my life has to be put on display so does yours."

"That's not fair," she whines.

"Liss, life isn't fair," I say.

**A dangerous smile curled his lips. "And really, I don't get why **_**you **_**of all people should act so outraged that I used 'forbidden' magic."**

"Looks like someone knows about you using compulsion," Adrian taunts.

"Shut up," Christian says to him.

**"Me 'of all people'? What's that supposed to mean?"**

**"You can play all innocent if you want—and you do a pretty good job—but I know the truth."**

"You had the entire school fooled, Lissa. You did do a pretty good job at playing innocent. No one knew you were using compulsion," Mia says.

"I didn't want to get caught," Lissa says so low we can barley hear her.

**"What truth is that?" She couldn't hide her uneasiness from me or Christian.**

"To say all you did was watch her walk around campus and talk to Rose you sure do know her well, Christian. You must be an awesome stalker. If I ever need to stalk someone to get information on them I know exactly who to call," Eddie says.

Now Christian looked like he wanted to hit Eddie. Wow, and he said I was psychotic and volatile.

**He leaned even closer. "That you use compulsion. All the time."**

"Jackpot," Adrian shouts. "Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. What does he win?"

Christian turns to Adrian and glares at him. "Adrian, shut the hell up."

**"No, I don't," she said immediately.**

"Oh…yes…you…do," Adrian says in a singsong voice.

Now he is starting to irk me.

**"Of course you do. I've been lying awake at night, trying to figure out how in the world you two were able to rent out a place and go to high school without anyone ever wanting to meet your parents. Then I figured it out. You had to be using compulsion. That's probably how you broke out of here in the first place."**

"And you were lying awake at night trying to figure that out? Wow, I see why you were such a good stalker. Your thoughts never left Lissa. She was on your mind 24/7," Eddie jokes.

"Wait, was that how you two broke out?" Alberta asks before my mother could open her mouth.

"I'm sure that comes up later in the story," I say to her. "Karolina, can you please continue reading?" I ask.

"Alright," she says.

**"I see. You just figured it out. Without any proof."**

"He'd been watching and stalking you. What more proof did he need?" Viktoria says.

"Hey. I was going to say that," I say to her.

**"I've got all the proof I need, just from watching you."**

"What did I tell you," Viktoria says.

**"You've been watching me—spying on me—to prove I'm using compulsion?"**

**He shrugged. "No. Actually, I've been watching you just because I like it. The compulsion thing was a bonus. I saw you use it the other day to get an extension on that math assignment. And you used it on Ms. Carmack when she wanted to make you go through more testing."**

"Lissa," my mother chastises.

"Sorry," she says.

"I don't know how you never got caught," Mia says. "With all the compulsion you were doing it would seem like someone other than Christian would have noticed."

"I wholeheartedly agree," my mother says.

"Leave her alone," I say angrily.

**"So you assume it's compulsion? Maybe I'm just really good at convincing people." There was a defiant note in her voice: understandable, considering her fear and anger. Only she delivered it with a toss of her hair which—if I didn't know any better—might have been considered flirtatious. And I did know better…right? Suddenly, I wasn't sure.**

"That was definitely flirtatious," Viktoria says.

"I knew that. I just didn't want to believe it," I say.

"The question isn't whether Rose knew it was flirtatious. The question is if Christian knew," Eddie says.

"I figured it out," he says.

**He went on, but something in his eyes told me he'd noticed the hair, that he always noticed everything about her. **

"There's your answer," Christian says smirking.

**"People get these goofy looks on their faces when you talk to them. And not just any people—you're able to do it to Moroi. Probably dhampirs, too. Now **_**that's **_**crazy. I didn't even know that was possible. You're some kind of superstar. Some kind of evil, compulsion-abusing superstar." It was an accusation, but his tone and presence radiated the same flirtatiousness she had.**

"That is kind of creepy," Mia says.

"No it's not," Christian shoots back.

"Whatever you say, Christian," she replies.

**Lissa didn't know what to say. He was right. Everything he'd said was right. Her compulsion was what had allowed us to dodge authority and get along in the world without adult help. It was what had allowed us to convince the bank to let her tap into her inheritance.**

Luckily my mother decided not to voice her displeasure. Instead she just shook her head—which delivered her message loud and clear.

**And it was considered every bit as wrong as using magic as a weapon. Why not? It **_**was **_**a weapon. A powerful one, one that could be abused very easily. Moroi children had it drilled into them from an early age that compulsion was very, very wrong. No one was taught to use it, though every Moroi technically had the ability. Lissa had just sort of stumbled into it— deeply—and, as Christian had pointed out, she could wield it over Moroi, as well as humans and dhampirs.**

"All spirit users can," Adrian says.

"That doesn't make it right," Sydney shouts. I think that was the first thing she has said to him since their argument.

"I didn't say it was right. I just said all spirit users could strongly wield compulsion over Moroi, humans and dhampirs," he says trying to pacify her.

She doesn't say anything in return. She just turns her attention back to Karolina.

**"What are you going to do then?" she asked. "You going to turn me in?"**

"Why would he do that?" Eddie asks. "You were the love of his life although he didn't know you very well."

"Shut up," Christian exclaims.

"I don't think so," Eddie says tauntingly probably just to piss Christian off, and he succeeded because Christian's hands were balled up into fist like he wanted to hit Eddie. I would love to see him try, but I'm sure Eddie would lay Christian flat on his ass.

**He shook his head and smiled. "No. I think it's hot."**

"What happened to the flirting?" Adrian asks sarcastically.

**She stared, eyes widening and heart racing. Something about the shape of his lips intrigued her. **

"Christian isn't the only love struck person in that chapel," Jill says, and Lissa blushes.

"If his lips intrigued you so much why didn't you just kiss him?" Mia asks.

"I'm sure you wouldn't have gotten any complaints from him," Eddie adds.

She just turns redder and looks away.

**"Rose thinks you're dangerous," she blurted out nervously. "She thinks you might have killed the fox."**

"Nice way to kill the mood," Adrian says sarcastically.

"I really wish you hadn't brought me into the conversation," I say to her.

"And I really wish you hadn't been in my head," Lissa retorts.

"Rose, she does have a point," Dimitri says. "You invaded her privacy, so if you ended up hearing something you didn't want to then it's your fault."

I was at a loss for words, so I just motioned for Karolina to continue reading.

**I didn't know how I felt about being dragged into this bizarre conversation. Some people were scared of me. Maybe he was too.**

Christian smirked. "Not likely."

"I kind of figured that out already," I reply.

"It's nice that you know you can't intimidate me," he says.

"Oh, I can definitely intimidate you," I say dangerously, and he turns a shade paler. "See, I just intimidated you a few seconds ago. Who said Rose Hathaway wasn't scary?"

"No one," Eddie says. "Actually, you are down right horrifying," he adds sarcastically.

"Thank you," I reply imitating his sarcasm.

**Judging from the amusement in his voice when he spoke, it appeared he wasn't. **

"What did I tell you," Christian says.

**"People think I'm unstable, but I tell you, Rose is ten times worse. Of course, that makes it harder for people to fuck with **_**you, **_**so I'm all for it." **

"That is so true," Adrian says.

"Yeah it is," Eddie says. "Too bad Mia didn't take a page out of Christian's book. She would have saved herself a lot of trouble."

"You really would have," I say to her.

"I know that," she snaps bitterly.

**Leaning back on his heels, he finally broke the intimate space between them. "And I sure as hell didn't do **_**that. **_**Find out who did, though…and what I did to Ralf won't seem like anything."**

"You will not attack anyone else with fire," Tasha yells at him, "unless it is a Strigoi."

"Don't worry," he reassures her, "I don't attack anyone else. Plus I didn't have to take care of the person that killed the fox. Someone else did it for me," he says looking at Dimitri.

"Uh, can we continue reading now? I'm not getting any younger," I say angry that Christian interrupted the story once again. Plus he could have given away a significant part of the book.

"Fine," he says defiantly, and Karolina begins reading again.

**His gallant offer of creepy vengeance didn't exactly reassure Lissa…but it did thrill her a little. "I don't want you doing anything like that. And I still don't know who did it."**

"How in the hell did you get a thrill out of that?" Adrian asks Lissa. "That was just plain creepy. There was nothing thrilling about it."

"That's not for you to decided," I say to him. "Now, if you don't mind, Karolina has a chapter to finish reading."

**He leaned back toward her and caught her wrists in his hands. He started to say something, then stopped and looked down in surprise, running his thumbs over faint, barely there scars. Looking back up at her, he had a strange—for him— kindness in his face.**

"Were those the marks from her cu—," Mia began to ask.

"Yeah," I say cutting her off.

**"You might not know who did it. But you know something. Something you aren't talking about."**

"You know you could have told me. I would never do anything to hurt you," Christian says to Lissa.

"Yeah, I know. I just didn't want to tell anyone," she says.

He lays a hand on top of hers and she gives him a small smile.

"Okay, enough of the PDA. We have a chapter to finish reading," I say.

**She stared at him, a swirl of emotions playing in her chest. "You can't know all my secrets," she murmured.**

"I guess I can't," Christian says.

**He glanced back down at her wrists and then released them, that dry smile of his back on his face. "No. I guess not."**

**A feeling of peace settled over her, a feeling I thought only I could bring. **

"I bet you're pissed off now. I wonder what's going to get broken," Eddie says, directing his sarcasm at me now.

"One of your bones if you don't shut up," I retort.

"No need to be so violent little dhampir," Adrian says. "He was just joking."

"I know that," I say through clenched teeth.

**Returning to my own head and my room, I sat on the floor staring at my math book. Then, for reasons I didn't really get, I slammed it shut and threw it against the wall.**

"I guess Eddie was right," Mia says.

"Rose, was that really necessary?" Dimitri asks exasperated.

"Yes," I say evenly and his frown deepens.

**I spent the rest of the night brooding until the time I was supposed to meet Jesse came around. **

"I'm going to find that boy," Abe says.

"That won't be necessary," I say. "I dealt him enough damage while I was still in school." That earned me a proud smile from Abe and a chilling one from my mother. Dimitri just shook his head. I'm sure he remembers at least one incident between Jesse and me.

**Slipping downstairs, I went into the kitchen—a place I could visit so long as I kept things brief—and caught his eye when I cut through the main visiting area.**

"And no one happened to notice you associating with that boy," my mother says in frustration.

"Oh, someone saw," I say bitterly. They saw us alright. That's how Dimitri was able to find us.

**Moving past him, I paused and whispered, "There's a lounge on the fourth floor that nobody uses. Take the stairs on the other side of the bathrooms and meet me there in five minutes. The lock on the door is broken."**

"Rose, that is really smart. You are going to use a room with a broken lock. I'm sure that will come back to bit you in the butt," Viktoria says.

I just give her a knowing smile and motion for Karolina to continue reading.

**He complied to the second, and we found the lounge dark, dusty, and deserted. **

"I remember you telling me about what happened, but it will be nice to actually know everything that went on that you didn't tell me," Lissa says.

"Yeah," Eddie says. "I would love to know what you two did," he adds sarcastically.

"Our entire Slavic Arts class found out," Mia says.

"Because you ratted us out," I say glaring at her.

"If you all don't mind I would like to finish this chapter before I'm old and gray," Adrian says.

**The drop in guardian numbers over the years meant a lot of the dorm stayed empty, a sad sign for Moroi society but terribly convenient right now.**

"I bet it was," my mother says under her breath.

**He sat down on the couch, and I lay back on it, putting my feet in his lap. **

"I will break every bone in his body and then we'll see how many girls he'll have resting in his lap," Abe says dangerously. From the tone in his voice I knew not to say anything.

**I was still annoyed after Lissa and Christian's bizarre attic romance and wanted nothing more than to forget about it for a while.**

"Belikov, you can't be too happy about that can you?" Adrian asks.

"No, I'm not actually, but trust me, they don't get very far," he replies.

"And how would you know that?" Adrian asks.

The only thing Dimitri says to Adrian is, "Listen and find out."

**"You really here to study, or was it just an excuse?" I asked.**

"I can give him something to study alright," Abe threatens, and my mother nods her head in agreement.

**"No. It was real. Had to do an assignment with Meredith." The tone in his voice indicated he wasn't happy about that.**

Karolina pauses and angrily states, "What? Did he think dhampirs were beneath him or something?"

"Knowing Jesse he probably did," Mia and I say at the same time.

A frown crossed Karolina's face but she continued reading.

**"Oooh," I teased. "Is working with a dhampir beneath your royal blood? Should I be offended?"**

"Yes, you should be," my mother says, "so much so that you get off that damn couch and go back to your dorm room."

"We all know that's not likely to happen," Christian says smirking.

**He smiled, showing a mouth full of perfect white teeth and fangs. "You're a lot hotter than she is."**

"Which is the only reason he was with you right then," Abe shouts. "He would have taken what he wanted from you and moved on to the next hottest thing he could find. I'm sure you remember that well," he adds making me remember what happened between Rolan and Viktoria during my stay in Russia.

"Yeah, I do," I say bitterly.

**"Glad I make the cut." **

"I can't believe I ever liked him," I say with disgust radiating my every word.

"Me either," Mia says, and I could tell she was speaking for herself. After all she was the one who actually slept with him.

**There was a sort of a heat in his eyes that was turning me on, as was his hand sliding up my leg. **

"It can't slide up anymore legs if it is detached from his body," Abe says.

"Old man, calm down," I say.

He turns to me infuriated. "What do you mean calm down," he shouts. "That boy is taking advantage of my daughter and you want me to calm down!"

"I'm inclined to agree with your father, Rose. I'm about ready to kill that boy myself with my bare hands," my mother says.

I didn't say anything. I just sat in my seat terrified of what they would do to Dimitri once we began reading the lust charm chapter—after all he _is _sitting in this very room. If they don't kill him then I'm sure they will once we get to the book where he takes my virginity. Adrian isn't off the hook either considering the fact that I did almost have sex with him.

**But I needed to do something first. It was time for some vengeance. "Mia must too, since you guys let her hang out with you. She's not royal."**

"Rose, please don't," Mia says although she knows it is too late to tell me not to tell Jesse about her parents.

"Sorry, Mia," I say truthfully.

**His finger playfully poked me in the calf. **

"I'll chop that off too," Abe yells outraged.

"Oh no you won't," my mother says, and I am grateful for her speaking up. "I'll have the honor of detaching that finger," she adds, her voice full of malice. Any joyful feeling I may have had went flying out the window after that comment.

"Okay, you can have the finger. Hell, you can have all his fingers, but I'll cut him in a spot that leaves him permanently unable to walk or populate the Moroi or dhampir races," Abe hisses.

"Deal," my mother says.

Alright, now I'm really afraid for Dimitri's life.

**"She's with Aaron. And I've got lots of friends who aren't royal. And friends who are dhamps. I'm not a total asshole."**

"He's such a liar," Mia says.

"That I can agree with," I say.

**"Yeah, but did you know her parents are practically custodians for the Drozdovs?"**

Mia turns to me and gives me an exasperated look. "Exaggerate much!"

I just shrug my shoulders.

**The hand on my leg stopped. I'd exaggerated, but he was a sucker for gossip—and he was notorious for spreading it.**

"Then why the hell are you still with him," my mother shouts.

I don't answer her and she just rolls her eyes.

**"Seriously?"**

**"Yeah. Scrubbing floors and stuff like that."**

**"Huh."**

**I could see the wheels turning in his dark blue eyes and had to hide a smile. The seed was planted.**

"God only knows what they will do next," Christian says sarcastically, but he immediately shut up once Abe shot him a glare powerful enough to kill even a Strigoi.

**Sitting up, I moved closer to him and draped a leg over his lap. **

My mother balls up her fists, and Abe narrows his eyes into slits. Oh shit, if they ever find Jesse he is as good as dead.

**I wrapped my arms around him, and without further delay, thoughts of Mia disappeared as his testosterone kicked in. **

"If he puts his lips anywhere near you I will rip them off. And…it…will…hurt," Abe says darkly.

I didn't even want to picture that.

**He kissed me eagerly—sloppily, even—pushing me against the back of the couch, and I relaxed into what had to be the first enjoyable physical activity I'd had in weeks.**

I could see that Eddie was doing his best to keep his mouth shut because I'm sure he had something to say. By the looks on Christian and Adrian's faces they had a lot to say too, but none of them wanted Abe, or Janine for that matter, to turn their furry on them so they stayed quiet.

"That's it. I need to find that boy _now_. We have some business to handle," Abe says while rising from his chair.

"No," I shout. "It's not like Jesse and I actually had sex. And you can't just go around killing guys because they got physical with me. It's not like I was doing it against my will. I'm at fault as much as Jesse is, so there is no need to go kill the poor boy." I can't believe I used poor boy to describe Jesse Zeklos. Who would have ever guessed? Certainly not me.

"Fine," he says angrily, "but I will _not _keep my comments to myself. I need to release my anger in some kind of diplomatic way."

"Better for you to run your mouth than run Jesse down," I say.

**We kissed like that for a long time, and I didn't stop him when he pulled off my shirt.**

"I swear I will kill that boy if I ever find him," Abe says.

"And _I _will be helping," my mother adds.

"You said you wouldn't go looking for him," I yell at Abe.

"Yes, I did, but I never said I wouldn't kill him if I happened to run into him one day," he cleverly says.

Damn it. He had me there. And there is not way in hell I would ever be able to convince him not to.

**"I'm not having sex," I warned between kisses. I had no intention of losing my virginity on a couch in a lounge.**

"At least part of your brain was functioning," my mother says.

I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult so I just stayed quiet. Lissa gave me a sympathetic smile, and I gave her a small smile in return.

**He paused, thinking about this, and finally decided not to push it. "Okay."**

"He might want to be lucky he didn't," Abe warns.

**But he pushed me onto the couch, lying over me, still kissing with that same fierceness. His lips traveled down to my neck, and when the sharp points of his fangs brushed against my skin, I couldn't help an excited gasp.**

"That can't be good," Viktoria says.

"I was just about to say the same thing," my mother says.

"So that's how he found out?" Lissa asks me.

"Yes," I reply.

**He raised himself up, looking into my face with open surprise. For a moment, I could barely breathe, recalling that rush of pleasure that a vampire bite could fill me with, wondering what it'd be like to feel that while making out. Then the old taboos kicked in. Even if we didn't have sex, giving blood while we did **_**this **_**was still wrong, still dirty.**

"I'm glad you realized it before you made a grave mistake," my mother says.

"Me too," I mutter under my breath.

**"Don't," I warned.**

"I just want to wrap my hands around that boy's neck and—," Abe begins.

"Okay, I don't need a mental picture," I say to him.

"Fine," he retorts.

**"You want to." His voice held excited wonder. "I can tell."**

**"No, I don't."**

**His eyes lit up. "You do. How—hey, have you done it before?"**

"Please don't tell me you said yes," Sydney says.

"Just listen," I say bitterly at her lack of faith in me.

**"No," I scoffed. "Of course not."**

"Nice, Rose," Christian says sarcastically. "That completely said _I'm guilty_."

"Shut up," I say. I was already irritated; I didn't need Christian adding to it.

"Fine," he says, and then he looks at Karolina. "You can continue reading now."

**Those gorgeous blue eyes watched me, and I could see the wheels spinning behind them. Jesse might flirt a lot and have a big mouth, but he wasn't stupid.**

"I wouldn't bet on that," Mia says.

Now that I think about it neither would I.

**"You act like you have. You got excited when I was by your neck."**

"Rose, you're a good liar come up with something good," Eddie says.

I was too mad to reply to his comment, so I stayed silent once again.

**"You're a good kisser," I countered, though it wasn't entirely true. **

"What do you mean _entirely_? He isn't a good kisser at all," Mia exclaims, and then covers her mouth with her hands. Oops, too late for that.

"What does tha—," Jill began.

"Wait and see," I interrupt.

**He drooled a little more than I would have preferred. "Don't you think everyone would know if I was giving blood?"**

"Not the best thing to say," Christian notes.

"I know that now," I shout.

**The realization seized him. "Unless you weren't doing it before you left. You did it while you were gone, didn't you? You fed Lissa."**

"Looks like someone knows the truth," Adrian jokes.

"Adrian, that's not funny," Sydney chastises.

**"Of course not," I repeated.**

**But he was on to something, and he knew it. "It was the only way. You didn't have feeders. Oh, man."**

**"She found some," I lied. It was the same line we'd fed Natalie, the one she'd spread around and that no one—except Christian—had ever questioned. "Plenty of humans are into it."**

"I bet Jesse doesn't' believe that," Christian says.

I just shoot him a glare to shut him up.

**"Sure," he said with a smile. He leaned his mouth back to my neck.**

"I wonder how many punches it would take to knock all of his teeth out," my mother says disgusted.

Not many considering the fact that her punches carry the force of a small truck. I know from experience.

**"I'm not a blood whore," I snapped, pulling away from him.**

"Too late for that. You should have already left. Better yet, you should never have met him in that lounge," my mother reprimands.

"I know," I say ashamed.

**"But you **_**want **_**to. You like it. All you dhamp girls do." His teeth were on my skin again. Sharp. Wonderful.**

"I might have to break the promise I made you and go looking for that boy after all," Abe says frostily.

"Wait…what the hell did he mean by all dhamp girls?" Karolina asks angrily taking offense to Jesse's comment.

I don't answer her because we all know what Jesse meant by that comment.

**I had a feeling hostility would only make things worse, so I defused the situation with teasing. "Stop it," I said gently, running a fingertip over his lips. "I told you, I'm not like that. But if you want something to do with your mouth, I can give you some ideas."**

"I bet you can," I hear Christian mutter under his breath, and Lissa hits him in the arm and he winces in pain. Good. That's what he gets.

**That peaked his interest. "Yeah? Like wha—?"**

**And that was when the door opened.**

"Thank God," my mother says gratefully.

**We sprang apart. I was ready to handle a fellow student or even possibly the matron. What I was not ready for was Dimitri.**

Everyone in the room turned to look at Dimitri.

"I'm sure you weren't happy about what you walked in on were you lover boy," Adrian says.

Dimitri ignores him. "Karolina, can you please continue reading?"

Dimitri had said those words calmly, but I could detect the slightest bit of malice in his voice. I could also clearly see the anger in his eyes. I don't think anyone else noticed aside from me and maybe Lissa because she had a concerned look on her face, but as I read her thoughts and emotions she had a concerned look on her face because _I _looked worried.

"I'm fine," I say to her while grabbing Dimitri's hand to assuage his anger.

She just nods her head and turns her attention back to Karolina, but by searching the bond I can tell she isn't really focused on Karolina. She is wishing the bond worked two ways so she could find out what has me so worried.

She'll find out soon enough once Dimitri and I have our little disagreement.

**He burst in the door like he'd expected to find us, and in that horrible moment, with him raging like a storm, I knew why Mason had called him a god. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the room and jerked Jesse up by his shirt, nearly holding the Moroi off the ground.**

"I really like you Belikov. You did exactly what I would have done," Abe says happily. "Although I'm sure the boy would have been in worse condition if he was in my care," he adds darkly.

"I bet," I say under my breath.

"Hey Dimitri, how did you know Rose and Jesse would be in the lounge?" Lissa asks.

"You'll find out. I remember telling Rose how I found her," he replies.

"Okay."

**"What's your name?" barked Dimitri.**

"Somebody's pissed," Adrian says. "For you to only be her mentor you seem really protective of her. Looks like someone is jealous," he adds.

"Adrian," I say, "I would advise you to be quiet. You are pissing off a trained guardian who could do major damage to you in a matter of seconds. If that isn't enough of an incentive then I would urge you to consider the fact that I—Rosemarie Badass Hathaway—did learn from him. How do you think I became so dangerous?"

I had the satisfaction of seeing Adrian turn a shade paler and sink into his seat. That made my day.

"Karolina you can continue reading now," I say to her.

"Sure," she says, and I can hear the amusement in her voice.

**"J-Jesse, sir. Jesse Zeklos, sir."**

"Wow. You must have put the fear of God in him. I've never seen Jesse that intimidated. Normally he's doing the intimidating," Mia says.

"I bet he wasn't the only one scared," Eddie says looking at me. "If I had been in that room I know I would have been," he adds.

"We'll soon find out if Rose was afraid of him or not," Christian says with a smirk. "My bet is that she was."

"I can't argue with that," Lissa says.

"I hope she was. Maybe it would teach her to not get in those kinds of situations anymore," my mother says.

"Oh, I definitely learned something," I say, and then motion for Karolina to continue reading.

**"Mr. Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm?"**

"Hell no, and you already knew that," Viktoria says, earning a disapproving look from her mother.

**"No, sir."**

"Jesse just called you sir. I wish I had been there to see that," Mia says.

"No you don't," I say to Mia. "Being in that room with Dimitri at that particular moment was not fun or amusing."

"I told you she was afraid," Christian says before Karolina continues reading.

**"Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?"**

"Yes, but like me he couldn't give a damn about the rules," I say. "I wish that one time I _had _followed the rules."

"Did Rose just say what I think she said?" Christian asks.

"I think she did," Eddie says with his eyes bulging out of his head matching Christian's facial expression.

"It's not that serious, and you guys are idiots. Do you know that?" I half say half ask.

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again"—Dimitri pointed to where I cowered, half-dressed, on the couch—**_**"I **_**will be the one to punish you. And it will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?"**

"Wow Dimka, you were really worked up," Sonya says. "I think you really were jealous."

"I don't care if he was jealous or not. I'm glad you put that good for nothing Moroi in his place. I love how you threatened to punish him and make it _hurt_ a lot. That was pure genius. I couldn't have done any better myself," Abe says genially pleased.

Oh, he could have done better himself, but I'm not sure if killing Jesse would really constitute as better.

"I'm glad you approve," I say bitterly, but Dimitri has an amused look on his face.

**Jesse swallowed, eyes wide. None of the bravado he usually showed was there. I guess there was "usually" and then there was being held in the grip of a really ripped, really tall, and really pissed-off Russian guy "Yes, sir!"**

"You would know," Christian says snarkily.

I just roll my eyes at his comment. There is no way I am going to let him—and Eddie for that matter—continue to get under my skin. But that doesn't mean I wasn't still going to give them a little bit of well deserved payback. After this chapter I imagine we will read one more and then we will go to bed. Then it's game on.

**"Then **_**go." **_**Dimitri released him, and, if possible, Jesse got out of there faster than Dimitri had burst in. **

"I doubt that," Alberta says. "But it will be nice to know what Belikov said to you now that Zeklos is gone," she adds.

"Yeah, good riddance," Abe says.

**My mentor then turned to me, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He didn't say anything, but the angry, disapproving message came through loud and clear.**

"Good," Dimitri says. "It was meant to come across."

"I told you, I told you she was afraid," Christian echoes.

**And then it shifted.**

My parents narrowed their eyes at this statement. Oh, good God. Here comes round two of the Abe and Janine bitch out session. I was not in the mood for this _again_.

**It was almost like he'd been taken by surprise, like he'd never noticed me before. **

"Rose, in case you haven't noticed you are sitting on a couch in nothing but your bra and jeans. What did you expect? You do happen to be a little more filled out up top than most girls, especially the ones you attend school with," Sydney says.

Lissa, Jill, and Mia nod their heads in agreement, but Abe and my mother narrow their eyes even more—if that is even possible.

**Had it been any other guy, I would have said he was checking me out. **

"He's definitely checking you out," Adrian says to my parent's disliking, but they don't say anything. They just shoot Dimitri really intimidating glares, but I have no idea what's going on in his head because he has his guardian mask on right now.

**As it was, he was definitely studying me. Studying my face, my body. **

"_Studying_, Rose, are you serious? You just basically said yourself that he was checking you out. When a guy checks a girl out he _is _studying her body and committing it to memory," Christian says.

Damn it. Why did he have to open his mouth? That set my parents—in particular my mother—off.

"You were checking out my underage daughter!" my mother practically yells at the top of her lungs.

"No, I was just taken by surprise," Dimitri says calmly not betraying a single emotion.

"Is it really necessary for you to chastise my grandson?" Yeva asks my mother. "We all know that they are together now. Do you think that just started, or do you think it had been going on for a while. After all, she _did _drop out of school to go hunt him down. They had obviously been in love for a while before that happened."

That brought my mother's arguments and Abe's death glares to a halt. I was grateful for Yeva stepping in when she did and I could tell Dimitri was too. His face didn't give anything away, but I could definitely see relief in his eyes.

"Now, Karolina, continue reading," Yeva says.

**And I suddenly realized I was only in jeans and a bra—a black bra at that. I knew perfectly well that there weren't a lot of girls at this school who looked as good in a bra as I did. **

"You've got that right," Adrian mutters under his breath, and luckily for him Sydney didn't hear him, but Abe did and he shot Adrian his most terrifying glare yet. If looks could kill almost everyone in this room would be dead by now—me included.

**Even a guy like Dimitri, one who seemed so focused on duty and training and all of that, had to appreciate that.**

By the look on Dimitri's face now I can tell he did and still does, but he quickly covers it up before my parents can see.

**And, finally, I noticed that a hot flush was spreading over me, and that the look in his eyes was doing more to me than Jesse's kisses had. **

"Now, that's saying something," Mia says. "You got more from a look from Dimitri than you did from Jesse's kissing. That's extremely powerful, and it's never happened to me."

I blushed a little bit at her comment and the thought that brought that comment on. That was not something I had ever wanted Dimitri to find out. It was kind of embarrassing.

**Dimitri was quiet and distant sometimes, but he also had a dedication and an intensity that I'd never seen in any other person. I wondered how that kind of power and strength translated into…well, sex. **

I shot myself in the foot with that comment because the glaring at Dimitri began all over again. I can't believe they will all find out my innermost thoughts. Damn it.

**I wondered what it'd be like for him to touch me and—shit!**

"Weren't you supposed to be a virgin? Why were you thinking about what sex with Dimitri would be like?" Eddie asks.

"I have the same question," Mia says.

"Wait…Rose was a virgin?" Alberta asks.

"Yeah, we were all just as shocked as you are when we found out. It was in the first chapter. You and Jill weren't here for that one," Christian says snarkily.

"I already knew that she still was," Lissa says proudly. _But I wasn't told when she lost her virginity_ she adds bitter in her head.

"Liss," I chastise.

"Oh, sorry Rose. I forgot you could read my mind," she says embarrassed.

**What was I thinking? Was I out of my mind? Embarrassed, I covered my feelings with attitude.**

"Like you so often do," Adrian says.

I stick my tongue out at him and turn my attention back to Karolina as she begins to read again.

**"You see something you like?" I asked.**

"Duh, of course he does," Adrian says, and I can tell Sydney is growing more irate by the minute. Adrian is digging a hole it will be almost impossible to get out of. If I was him I would shut up while I wasn't as far behind.

**"Get dressed."**

"That snapped him out of his daze," Christian says snarkily.

"Really Sherlock, I hadn't noticed," I say sarcastically.

He just rolls his eyes at me and turns back to Karolina.

**The set of his mouth hardened, and whatever he'd just felt was gone. **

"Looks like it's time for his angry tirade," I say icily.

"I didn't lecture you. Even if I had you would have brought that upon yourself," Dimitri says.

**That fierceness sobered me up and made me forget about my own troubling reaction. I immediately pulled my shirt back on, uneasy at seeing his badass side.**

"Rose Hathaway, afraid. Dimitri I could definitely use a few pointers," Christian says.

"For starters, learn how to throw a damn punch and stake a Strigoi," I say.

"I've been learning how to do that. Plus, Eddie can do both of those things and you aren't afraid of him," Christian retorts.

"That's true, so I guess there is no hope for you then," I say to him.

"Christian, you could always encircle her in a ring of fire," Eddie says.

"Yeah, but knowing Rose she would find a way out and kick my ass for even attempting to burn her alive," Christian says.

"You're damn straight," I say, making a few people in the room laugh.

"That's my girl," Abe says.

**"How'd you find me? You following me to make sure I don't run away?"**

"That's highly unlikely," Alberta says.

**"Be quiet," he snapped, leaning down so that we were at eye level. **

"I like his badass side," Christian says. "That's right, put Rose in her place. Since I'll never be able to, someone has to do it."

"Christian, shut up or _I _will be the one putting _you _in your place," I reply.

My desired effect came to pass because he didn't open his mouth to say another word.

**"A janitor saw you and reported it. Do you have any idea how stupid this was?"**

"You were supposed to be a guardian in training and you didn't even notice a janitor watching you," Eddie says incredulously.

"In case you forgot, her mind was kind of preoccupied. She didn't have time to spot nosey janitors," Christian says.

Don't let them get under your skin, don't let them get under your skin, don't let them get under your skin I continuously repeat to myself.

**"I know, I know, the whole probation thing, right?"**

**"Not just that. I'm talking about the stupidity of getting in **_**that **_**kind of situation in the first place."**

"Mad because she wasn't in _that_ kind of situation with you?" Adrian inquires.

I wasn't the only person to shoot Adrian a glare at this comment. Sydney, Lissa, and Tasha all shot Adrian glares to accompany mine. I think the _shut up _message came through loud and clear.

**"I get in **_**that **_**kind of situation all the time, Comrade. It's not a big deal." Anger replaced my fear. I didn't like being treated like a child.**

"You were a child," Dimitri says.

"A child that you had no problem checking out," Adrian says.

"Ivashkov, I highly recommend that you be quiet. If you fail to comply, I could always make you," Dimitri warns.

"Whatever," Adrian says dismissively, but I can hear the fear in his voice and so can everyone else in the room.

**"Stop calling me that. You don't even know what you're talking about."**

"Considering the fact that she never paid attention in class I wouldn't doubt that," Eddie says.

**"Sure I do. I had to do a report on Russia and the R.S.S.R. last year."**

"That," Eddie says laughing, "proves my point. It's called the U.S.S.R., Rose."

"I knew that," I say rolling my eyes at him.

"Sure you did," Christian says sarcastically.

**"U.S.S.R. And it is a big deal for a Moroi to be with a dhampir girl. They like to brag."**

"And you care so much because…?" Viktoria asks.

"Viktoria, leave your brother alone," Olena says.

**"So?"**

**"So?" he looked disgusted. "So don't you have any respect? Think about Lissa. You make yourself look cheap. You live up to what a lot of people already think about dhampir girls, and it reflects back on her. And me."**

"Did she bruise your ego or damage your pride?" Adrian asks.

"Ivashkov, what did I say to you earlier? Do you suffer from memory loss because I believe I made myself very clear," Dimitri says to Adrian.

Adrian stayed quiet after his reminder.

**"Oh, I see. Is that what this is about? Am I hurting your big, bad male pride? Are you afraid I'll ruin your reputation?"**

"Rose, his reputation was already made. I don't think anything would have been able to tarnish the fact that he was and still is a brilliant guardian," my mother says.

"I know that, and Dimitri told me that too," I say.

**"My reputation is already made, Rose. I set my standards and lived up to them long ago. What you do with yours remains to be seen." **

"That was harsh," Lissa says.

"Yes, it was, but can you honestly say that she didn't deserve it?" Dimitri asks.

It takes a few seconds before Lissa can get her reply out. "No," she says weakly.

**His voice hardened again. "Now get back to your room—if you can manage it without throwing yourself at someone else."**

"Now that was harsh," Christian says happily. "He just called you a slut without actually calling you a slut. Dimitri you really are a genius."

"I don't take pride in that," Dimitri says.

"Dimka, that was mean. Did you apologize to Rose for calling her a slut?" Karolina and Olean ask disapproval clear in their voices and on their faces.

"He just did a few seconds ago. It just wasn't worded the way most people would word an apology," I say.

**"Is that your subtle way of calling me a slut?"**

"Rose, you knew that. You shouldn't have even had to ask," Mia says.

"I just wanted confirmation," I say. "Is that wrong?" I ask rhetorically.

**"I hear the stories you guys tell. I've heard stories about you."**

"That is most certainly a yes," Christian says.

"I can't believe you called my daughter a slut," Abe exclaims, but Tasha doesn't look too unhappy. As a matter of fact, the bitch doesn't look sad at all. She actually looks rather thrilled. I'm shocked no one else has noticed. Maybe I thought too soon because I could see Yeva glaring at Tasha out the corner of her eye.

**Ouch. I wanted to yell back that it was none of his business what I did with my body, but something about the anger and disappointment on his face made me falter. **

"I'm shocked," Lissa says in surprise. "Dimitri is definitely a good role model for you," she adds.

"Yeah, Rose's attitude changed drastically for the better once she began training with Dimitri," Eddie notes.

**I didn't know what it was. "Disappointing" someone like Kirova was a non-event, but Dimitri?…I remembered how proud I'd felt when he praised me the last few times in our practices. Seeing that disappear from him…well, it suddenly made me feel as cheap as he'd implied I was.**

"You're not cheap," Abe says outraged.

"I know that, but I can't help that I felt that way at that point in time," I reply. "Now if you don't mind we have a chapter to finish," I add.

**Something broke inside of me. Blinking back tears, I said, "Why is it wrong to…I don't know, have fun? I'm seventeen, you know. I should be able to enjoy it."**

"Yes, you were seventeen, but in less than a year someone's life would be in your hands," my mother says empathizing with me.

"Yeah, that's what Dimitri tells me almost verbatim," I say.

**"You're seventeen, and in less than a year, someone's life and death will be in your hands." His voice still sounded firm, but there was a gentleness there too. "If you were human or Moroi, you could have fun. You could do things other girls could."**

**"But you're saying I can't."**

"That's not fair," Lissa says feeling bad that I wasn't really able to enjoy my life the way she had been able to. She had been more or less free to live the way she wanted, but me, I didn't have that luxury.

"Don't feel bad, Liss. It's not your fault. It's just the way things are," I say trying to make her feel better.

"Yeah, but it's still not fair," she says.

"Yeah, well life isn't fair. I just have to roll with the punches and play with the cards I'm dealt," I say.

"Rare wise words from Rose Hathaway everyone," Christian says, earning a few laughs from some people.

"Leave it to you to ruin a moment," I say.

"You're quite welcome," he replies.

**He glanced away, and his dark eyes went unfocused. He was thinking about something far away from here. "When I was seventeen, I met Ivan Zeklos. We weren't like you and Lissa, but we became friends, and he requested me as his guardian when I graduated. I was the top student in my school. I paid attention to everything in my classes, but in the end, it wasn't enough. That's how it is in this life. One slip, one distraction…" He sighed. "And it's too late."**

"He paid attention to everything and you paid attention to nothing," Christian says. "You two were a match made in heaven."

That last phrase sounded too much like what Viktor had said to Dimitri and me when we had gone to visit him in his jail cell. I couldn't even think of anything to say to that. That was just too close for comfort.

**A lump formed in my throat as I thought about one slip or one distraction costing Lissa her life.**

**"Jesse's a Zeklos," I said, suddenly realizing Dimitri had just thrown around a relative of his former friend and charge.**

"Rose, is right. I didn't make that connection until she said something," Mikhail says.

"Me too," Sonya says.

**"I know."**

**"Does it bother you? Does he remind you of Ivan?"**

"Aren't you perceptive," Eddie says seriously.

**"It doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter how any of us feel."**

"That's not true," Lissa argues. "It does matter how you feel. _I _care how you feel."

"I know," Dimitri says amused.

**"But it does bother you." It suddenly became very obvious to me. I could read his pain, though he clearly worked hard to hide it. "You hurt. Every day. Don't you? You miss him."**

"That I would have never guessed. I don't see how you were able to see through him so clearly," Mia says.

"Yeah, I agree. It's like I don't even know my own brother," Sonya says.

"I agree," Viktoria and Karolina say at the same time.

"They're soul mates. Is it really so hard to fathom how she was able to see straight to his soul and read his pain? She will always be able to read him better than we can as he will her," Yeva says.

**Dimitri looked surprised, like he didn't want me to know that, like I'd uncovered some secret part of him. **

"I was shocked you figured it out. No one had ever guessed that," he says—much to Tasha's dissatisfaction.

**I'd been thinking he was some aloof, antisocial tough guy, but maybe he kept himself apart from other people so he wouldn't get hurt if he lost them. Ivan's death had clearly left a permanent mark.**

"I never thought that was the reason you were so antisocial, Dimitri," Lissa says, "but now that Rose has brought it to our attention it does make sense."

"I have a feeling that we will be learning a lot of things about Rose _and _Dimitri that we didn't previously know and probably wouldn't have guessed at in a million years," my mother says.

"I agree," Sydney says.

**I wondered if Dimitri was lonely.**

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He wasn't lonely anymore. Now he had me.

**The surprised look vanished, and his standard serious one returned. "It doesn't matter how I feel. **_**They **_**come first. Protecting them."**

"I'm really beginning to hate that mantra," Jill says, earning nods and satisfied looks from everyone in the room.

**I thought about Lissa again. "Yeah. They do."**

"You can't put me before yourself. I won't let you," Lissa says.

"You don't really have a choice in the matter and neither do I," I say to her, and her arguments are cut short.

**A long silence fell before he spoke again.**

**"You told me you want to fight, to **_**really **_**fight. Is that still true?"**

**"Yes. Absolutely."**

**"Rose…I can teach you, but I have to believe you're dedicated. Really dedicated. I can't have you distracted by things like this." He gestured around the lounge. "Can I trust you?"**

"_Those _things won't distract her, you'll become the new distraction," Adrian says.

Dimitri didn't even attempt to argue with Adrian on this subject he just kept his attention on his sister.

**Again, I felt like crying under that gaze, under the seriousness of what he asked. I didn't get how he could have such a powerful effect on me. I'd never cared so much about what one person thought. "Yes. I promise."**

Lissa looked hurt by my comment. "You know that didn't include you. You know I meant I never cared what a person in authority thought of me," I say in an attempt to pacify her. It worked because she cheered up instantly.

**"All right. I'll teach you, but I need you strong. I know you hate the running, but it really is necessary. You have no idea what Strigoi are like. The school tries to prepare you, but until you've seen how strong they are and how fast…well, you can't even imagine. So I can't stop the running and the conditioning. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more trainings. It'll take up more of your time. You won't have much left for your homework or anything else. You'll be tired. A lot."**

"It's not like she did much homework anyway," Christian says.

I roll my eyes at him because I am not in the mood for an argument.

**I thought about it, about him, and about Lissa. "It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do it."**

**He studied me hard, like he was still trying to decide if he could believe me. Finally satisfied, he gave me a sharp nod. "We'll start tomorrow"**

"And Rose finally shaping into the badass guardian we all know and love begins with the next chapter," Eddie says.

"I think we should read one more chapter and then head to bed. I am getting pretty sleepy. Plus I need to get Paul to bed," Karolina says.

"Sure, one more chapter then we can all head to bed," I say. Then I mentally added, _one more chapter and the revenge begins. _

"Who wants to read next?" Karolina asks holding the book out.

"I'll read," Eddie says, and Karolina places the book in his hands.

"Chapter ten," Eddie begins.

Eddie might want to keep the comments to a minimum because if he pisses me off anymore the severity of the revenge can definitely be increased.

**Sorry for my lack of updating, but I had to go back to school so I had to find time to finish this chapter. I really enjoyed writing this one in particular and it has to be one of my favorites. I hope you all enjoyed it. **

**R&R**

**Continue to vote on my poll if you haven't done so already. I will be switching the poll question after the next chapter. You will then be able to vote on whether Sydney and Adrian fix their relationship. **

**I sill need ideas on how Rose can get back at Eddie and Christian. Review and tell me your suggestions or pm me and send them to me that way. **

**Like always, I apologize for any errors you may have encountered while reading this chapter. **


	11. Chapter 10

**I am so, so, so, so, so sorry for my lack of updating, but it has been kind of challenging to get chapters up. I have had this chapter done for a while I just didn't have a way to get it posted. My internet at home is not working at all, and my school likes to block websites and unfortunately fanfiction is blocked. I had no way of updating, and I am sorry for that. I will try my very best to update as regularly as possible. **

**The poll question has now been changed and you can now vote on whether Sydney and Adrian fix their relationship. Once the next chapter goes up the question will be changed back to the lust charm chapter question. If you all vote for Adrian and Sydney to fix their relationship then it will happen in the next chapter when Rose gets her revenge. I could still use some ideas.**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own **_**Vampire Academy**_**. Richelle Mead owns everything.**

**R&R**

"Chapter ten," Eddie reads.

"**EXCUSE ME, MR NAGY? I CANT really concentrate with Lissa and Rose passing notes over there."**

"And the rivalry continues," Christian interrupts snarkily, but I decide to ignore his comment. I'm trying to stay as calm as possible because if not the severity of Christian and Eddie's punishment will definitely increase.

**Mia was attempting to distract attention from herself—as well as from her inability to answer Mr. Nagy's question—and it was ruining what had otherwise been a promising day. **

Eddie stops reading and says, "I bet it did."

But before I could say anything in response he continues reading. I can already tell this is going to be a very _interesting_ reading.

**A few of the fox rumors still circulated, but most people wanted to talk about Christian attacking Ralf. **

"Looks like Christian is good for something," Adrian says just to piss Christian off.

"Shut up Ivashkov, or it will be _you _I'm setting on fire," he retorts.

"Oh, I'm scared now. I'm shaking in my boots," Adrian says smirking.

"Good," Christian says darkly.

"Wow Christian you sound like a mini-Rose Hathaway over there threatening and scaring poor Adrian like that," Eddie teases, much to my and Christian's displeasure. At least we can agree on something.

"If you value your life, Eddie I would advise you to never, and I mean never compare Christian to me and allude to me being unstable," I say darkly.

"Sure, whatever you say Rose," he says sarcastically and continues to read.

**I still hadn't cleared Christian of the fox incident—I was pretty sure he was psycho enough to have done it as some crazy sign of affection for Lissa—but whatever his motives, he had shifted the attention off her, just as he'd said.**

"I'm a man of my word," Christian says to me amused.

"Yeah, and my ass is on fire," I say.

"You know, we can always arrange that," Christian says smiling at me.

"Christian," Lissa chastises.

"What?" he asks innocently.

Rolling her eyes, Lissa replies, "You know what, and stop provoking Rose before she decides to hurt you."

Too little too late for that Lissa because as soon as we get out of this room for the night Christian and Eddie are in for one hell of a night because I'm going to take them on a ride to _fuck-with-Rose-Hathaway-and-see-what-happens _Land. Buckle up boys, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

**Mr. Nagy legendary for his ability to humiliate students by reading notes aloud, homed in on us like a missile. **

Eddie stops reading once again and says, "Let the embarrassment begin."

More like let the ass kicking begin because if he doesn't shut up and soon that is exactly what is going to happen.

I think he noticed the murderous look on my face because the smirk was instantly wiped from his face and he began reading at once.

Now that's more like it, I think to myself.

**He snatched the note away, and the excited class settled in for a full reading. I swallowed my groan, trying to look as blank and unconcerned as possible. Beside me, Lissa looked like she wanted to die.**

"I can't wait to hear what you two were chatting about," Adrian remarks.

"Well, in that case," Eddie says as he places the book on the floor in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing," I ask him.

"He said he can't wait to hear what you two were chatting about and I'm going to prove to him that he can wait. Plus I already know what's in the note," he replies shrugging his shoulders.

"Well some of us don't. And if you want to keep all of your body parts intact then I advise you to pick that damn book up and begin reading," my father threatens.

I had to resist the urge to burst out laughing because Eddie picked up that book faster than a Strigoi could enter a room, and that's saying something because I have never seen anything move faster than a Strigoi.

**"My, my," he said, looking the note over. "If only students would write this much in their essays. One of you has considerably worse writing than the other, so forgive me if I get anything wrong here." **

"I'm glad that man isn't my teacher," Victoria says.

"He's not anyone's teacher," Dimitri says, alluding to the fact that he ends up being killed by none other than Natalie.

"What does _that _mean Belikov?" Adrian asks suspiciously.

"Wait…Adrian I hope to God you are not trying to say what I think you are," Jill says. "Dimitri would never…I mean he wouldn't…he'd never…not even as—" She abruptly stops midsentence because honestly we all knew the direction she was headed and by the look on her face I can tell she is uncomfortable with this subject. She needs to be comforted and reassured, not just because of the distress clearly radiating from her, but mostly because Dimitri didn't do anything to harm Mr. Nagy.

But that comfort comes from a very unlikely source.

"Jill, everything is okay. Dimitri was just stating the fact that Mr. Nagy is no longer in a position to teach. That should be addressed later in this book," Lissa says to comfort her sister, and quite cleverly might I add. She avoided the very subject that had Jill so on edge. The subject that now has everyone sitting rigidly in our seats. The subject that brought a deathly silence to the room. The very subject that haunted me for so long. The fact that Dimitri had once been Strigoi is hard for everyone to imagine, especially since he is so normal now. But the fact that Adrian would be insensitive enough to bring that up makes my blood boil, and I plan on letting him have a piece of my mind.

Which is why I'm in utter shock when the words, "You insensitive bastard. How dare you bring that up," are yelled by none other than Yeva. She completely stole my thunder, but she was absolutely correct, and boy is she furious. I mean her grandson's character was called into question. And by the looks of it, it seems as if I wasn't the only person to have her thunder stolen. The entire Belikov family looked like they wanted to tell Adrian off, especially Karolina—she obviously doesn't like people talking about her little brother. Wow, that sounded so weird. The phrase 'little brother' just doesn't seem to fit Dimitri.

"How dare you insinuate that my grandson killed that teacher? What do you know? What can you know when you are always drunk and—"

"I know," Adrian says. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have said what I did and I apolog—"

Before he can even finish his statement he's interrupted.

"You don't have to apologize. It was a completely fair question," Dimitri says. "I did some pretty terrible things while I was Strigoi that I am not at all proud of, but that's the point. I did them while I was Strigoi. I'm no longer a part of that world. The things I've done the people I've hurt, that's all behind me now, and you all don't have to walk on egg shells regarding that subject for fear of hurting my feelings. I can deal with anything you throw at me. With that being said, why don't we just finish reading and enjoy the rest of the story."

"I agree," I say smiling at Dimitri, my earlier anger long forgotten after Dimitri's heartfelt words.

Everyone else just nods in unison, but I can tell that they are all over what just happened too.

**He cleared his throat. **_**"'So, I saw J last night,' **_**begins the person with bad handwriting, to which the response is, **_**'What happened,' **_**followed by no fewer than five question marks. Understandable, since sometimes one—let alone four—just won't get the point across, eh?" **

"That," Adrian says laughing, "is fun…ny."

Funny my ass. It's not funny when you're the one being humiliated.

"Adrian, that is not funny," Lissa says, vocalizing my thoughts.

"Cousin, that _is _funny. Where is your since of humor?"

I roll my eyes at this just as Eddie begins reading again.

**The class laughed, and I noticed Mia throwing me a particularly mean smile. **

Eddie stops reading again and says, "This is where you all are supposed to turn around and look at Mia disapprovingly." "Um,… don't all turn at once," he adds once no one does as he says.

"Eddie just read the damn book," I say angrily.

"Fine, fine, fine. No reason to be hostile."

"Rose is always hostile," Christian says.

Of course that comment made me mad but I didn't show any of my feelings. I just turned to Eddie and asked him to continue reading, which definitely surprised him considering the fact that I have been biting everyone's head off today.

But he complies nonetheless.

**"The first speaker responds: **_**'What do you think happened? We hooked up in one of the empty lounges.'"**_

"I do not want to hear you ever say the words 'we hooked up' again," Abe says, "It makes me want to puke before I kick the poor sucker's ass that you 'hooked up' with."

"Nice, old man. I'll just be sure to never let you _hear _me say those words, but I could always write them down, text them to you, email them to you—"

"Get someone else to say those words on your behalf," Christian adds.

"That isn't a bad idea. Too bad I didn't think of it," I say, as I catch a glimpse of Abe's face, and it is definitely getting redder by the second.

"You will do no such thing!" he yells, and I swear I can see smoke coming from his ears and eyes. It looks like he has neared his quota for my comments. I guess we better stop.

"Christian, we better stop before he kicks your ass," I say.

"Wait, Christian wasn't the only one talking. Why won't Abe be kicking _your _ass?" Mia asks.

Before I can answer her Eddie has to get his two cents in. "I was going to ask the same question. I mean because if there is anyone who can kick, touch, or grab your ass other than Dimitri it would have to be Abe considering the fact that he helped make it."

"And _that _is what I was going to say," Adrian says. "Thanks a lot Eddie."

"You're welcome," he replies sarcastically.

"Both of you shut up before _I _kick _your _asses. And Mia, I was going to answer your question, but Eddie and Adrian pissed me off so you'll just have to use your imagination and dream up what you think I might have said."

"That can't be too hard," Christian says.

"Christian," Lissa chastises.

"What do you think she would have said?" Eddie asks no one in particular.

"I'm a trained guardian and he isn't lacking common sense. He knows who would get whose ass kicked if we matched up," Mia replies in a pitiful imitation of my voice.

"That is completely wrong," Christian says, "It would be more like 'I…kill...you. You…not…stupid…old…man.'"

"You moron I don't sound like that. I was not born during the Stone Age," I say to Christian angrily over all the laughing.

"If you were I could always help you discover fire," Christian says back.

"Or you could wait for her to go to Hell," Eddie says, much to my disliking.

"That was not funny," Sydney says. "You should not play like that," she adds putting an end to the little laugh fest with her religious beliefs.

**Mr. Nagy glanced up after hearing some more giggles in the room. His British accent only added to the hilarity.**

"I bet it did," Adrian mutters under his voice.

**"May I assume by this reaction that the use of 'hook up' pertains to the more recent, shall we say, **_**carnal **_**application of the term than the tamer one I grew up with?"**

"Duh," Adrian interrupts again.

"Hey, I was going to say that," Eddie whines.

"Ha, ha beat you to it," Adrian replies.

"I swear, you two act like two kindergarteners," I say.

"And…you…sound…like…caveman…sorry…meant…cavewomen," Christian says making everyone—with the exception of me—laugh.

**More snickers ensued. Straightening up, I said boldly, "Yes, sir, Mr. Nagy. That would be correct, sir." A number of people in the class laughed outright.**

"Rose," my mother groans. "Do you have to respond to everything?"

I let a few seconds go by while I pretend to ponder my answer and finally say, "Yes, yes I do actually."

That just got me another groan from both my mother and Dimitri.

**"Thank you for that confirmation, Miss Hathaway. Now, where was I? Ah yes, the other speaker then asks, **_**'How was it?' **_**The response is, **_**'Good,' **_**punctuated with a smiley face to confirm said adjective. Well. I suppose kudos are in order for the mysterious J, hmmm? **_**'So, like, how far did you guys go?' **_**Uh, ladies," said Mr. Nagy, "I do hope this doesn't surpass a PG rating. **_**'Not very. We got caught.' **_**And again, we are shown the severity of the situation, this time through the use of a not-smiling face. **_**'What**__**happened?' 'Dimitri showed up. He threw Jesse out and then bitched me out.'"**_

"That was a very mature and accurate way to describe what happened," Dimitri says to me sarcastically.

"She's Rose. Did you really expect any more from her?" Christian asks.

"I did actually," Dimitri replies.

"I didn't," Adrian says.

"Leave Rose alone so Eddie can finish reading please," Lissa says and I shoot her a grateful look.

**The class lost it, both from hearing Mr. Nagy say "bitched" and from finally getting some participants named.**

"Was it necessary for you to mention Dimitri by name?" Mikhail asks.

"The note was only intended for Lissa to read," I say bitterly.

"True," Mikhail replies.

"Too bad that didn't work out," Christian says.

I just roll my eyes at him as Eddie continues to read.

**"Why, Mr. Zeklos, are you the aforementioned J? The one who earned a smiley face from the sloppy writer?" Jesse's face turned beet red, but he didn't look entirely displeased at having his exploits made known in front of his friends. **

"Didn't Dimitri threaten him?" Viktoria asks.

"Yeah," I say.

"Then why wasn't he afraid of Dimitri coming after him," she asks.

"Trust me. That's coming up," is my only response.

**He'd kept what had happened a secret thus far—including the blood talk—because I suspected Dimitri had scared the hell out of him. **

"Good job," Abe says beaming with pride, and I'm sure he's fonder of the fact that Jesse was terrified rather than the fact that Dimitri was the one who incited that fear.

**"Well, while I applaud a good misadventure as much as the next teacher whose time is utterly wasted, do remind your 'friends' in the future that my class is not a chat room." He tossed the paper back on to Lissa's desk. "Miss Hathaway, it seems there's no feasible way to punish you, since you're already maxed out on penalties around here. **

"You can say that again," my mother says.

I shoot her a glare and she just shrugs her shoulders which annoys the hell out of me.

**Ergo, you, Miss Dragomir, will serve two detentions instead of one on behalf of your friend. Stay here when the bell rings, please."**

"Well I'll be damned," Adrian says.

"You probably already are," I say to him.

"As are you," Christian says to me.

"Shut up," I retort. "You'll get to hell before I do."

"I wish you all would stop joking about that kind of stuff," Sydney says.

"Why should we?" Adrian asks. "You probably already think we are on our way to Hell anyway.

Instead of responding to his comment Sydney just ignores him. Looks like someone is still mad. Adrian is going to have to work hard to win her back. He was an idiot to let her go in the first place.

**After class, Jesse found me, an uneasy look on his face. "Hey, um, about that note…you know I didn't have anything to do with that. If Belikov finds out about it…you'll tell him? I mean, you'll let him know I didn't—"**

"Wow, he is a complete punk. I don't see what you saw in him," Viktoria says.

"Me either," Mia and I both mutter.

**"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted him. "Don't worry, you're safe."**

"You should have told me," Dimitri whispers to me so quietly that only I can hear.

"What good would that have done?" I ask back equally quiet.

"It would have made him think twice before spreading the blood whore rumors," he says turning his attention back to Eddie.

That is a good line of thought. Too bad it came too late. I could have spared myself a lot of pain and embarrassment if I had told Dimitri. Damnit.

**Standing with me, Lissa watched him walk out of the room. Thinking of how easily Dimitri had thrown him around—and of his apparent cowardice—I couldn't help but remark, "You know, Jesse's suddenly not as hot as I used to think."**

"Too bad you didn't come to that realization while you were throwing books across your dorm room," my mother says with Abe nodding encouragingly beside her.

I don't have the energy to argue with both of my parents so I just roll my eyes at them and say, "Eddie, please continue reading."

**She only laughed. "You'd better go. I've got desks to wash."**

"I feel sorry for you cousin. I'm not up for hard labor," Adrian says.

"Unless it involves no clothes, panting, moaning, groaning, and any other –ings you can think of," Christian says.

"Hey," Karolina yells. "There is an underage boy in here who just happens to be my son. I would greatly appreciate if you didn't talk about those kinds of things with him in the room."

"Yeah, Christian, I thought you had more sense than that," I say.

"And that's coming from the girl who is screwing Paul's un—" he abruptly comes to a stop after he catches a very Dimitri-like intimidating glance from Karolina and Lissa.

"Eddie, you can continue reading now," he says with icy fear lacing his voice. I would be afraid too if Karolina was looking at me the way she's looking at Christian. I need to make sure I never piss her off.

**I left her, heading back for my dorm. As I did, I passed a number of students gathered in small clusters outside the building. I regarded them wistfully, wishing I had the free time to socialize.**

Eddie pauses and lets fly the first words that come to his mind, "You don't have time to socialize, but you have time to get busy in an empty lounge. Nice Rose."

"What does he mean by get busy in an empty lounge," Paul asks his mother.

Karolina shoots daggers at Eddie and dismisses Paul's question with being rude.

**"No, it's true," I heard a confident voice say. Camille Conta. Beautiful and popular, from one of the most prestigious families in the Conta clan. She and Lissa had sort of been friends before we left, in the uneasy way two powerful forces keep an eye on each other. "They, like, clean toilets or something."**

Mia frowns but otherwise says nothing.

**"Oh my God," her friend said. "I'd die if I was Mia."**

"I don't see why you ever wanted to hang out with those girls," my mother says to Mia. "They are obviously not loyal and you're better than them."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she says to my mother meekly.

"And I completely agree," Eddie says causing Mia to blush.

Wait. Did I just say blush? She really does like Eddie. After I get my revenge I'll be nice and have Lissa help me get them together. At least they'll never be able to say I never gave them anything.

**I smiled. Apparently Jesse had spread some of the stories I'd told him last night. Unfortunately, the next overheard conversation shattered my victory.**

**"—heard it was still **_**alive. **_**Like, twitching on her bed."**

"I thought everyone was done talking about the fox," Mikhail says.

"So did I," Sonya agrees.

"They were but some people still weren't over it yet, but don't worry it won't be an issue anymore, or at least I think it won't," Lissa says to them. "Eddie you can continue reading now," she adds.

"At your command your highness," he says and bows in his seat causing Lissa to go red. She's still not comfortable with the whole being Queen thing yet, but she doesn't really have a choice. She's going to be Queen either until she resigns or passes away in her old age because I'll be damned if I let anything happen to her. I am her guardian after all.

**"That is so gross. Why would they just leave it there?"**

"That's a dumb question," Viktoria states. "Would they have picked it up if they had been the ones to find it? I don't think so."

I just smile at her as she once again voices my thoughts. Dimitri however, was shaking his head beside me.

**"I don't know. Why kill it in the first place?"**

"Now _that _is a good question," Abe says under his breath.

**"You think Ralf was right? That she and Rose did it to get kicked—"**

"The hell we did. Although that is an ingenious idea," I say earning disapproving looks from my parents, Dimitri, Alberta, Mikhail, Lissa, and Dimitri's family.

**They saw me and shut up.**

"Yeah, it's not like they really had a choice," Christian says. "It was either shut up or get fucked up."

That caused Eddie and Adrian to go into hysterics and we had to wait for Eddie to gather himself so he could continue reading.

**Scowling, I skulked off across the quadrangle. **_**Still alive, still alive.**_

**I'd refused to let Lissa talk about the similarities between the fox and what had happened two years ago. I didn't want to believe they were connected, and I certainly didn't want her to either.**

"Are we finally going to find out what you keep talking about?" Sydney asks.

"I don't know," I say to her. "I've never read this book before."

"Of course you haven't," Christian says. "Cavewomen don't read or rather they can't read."

Before I could voice my dislike for his comment I was cut off. "Hey! I figured it out," Eddie shouts.

"Figured what out?" Abe asks skeptically.

"Why Rose doesn't read," he says.

"I don't like where this is going," I say out loud.

"Neither do I," I hear Lissa and Dimitri choirs.

"Cavewomen can't read, and since Rose is a cavewomen neither can she, which is why she doesn't read," he finishes.

"I'll show you cavewomen," I say to him, which is why everyone in the room was in shock when I didn't do anything. Once they figured out I wasn't going to do or say anything more Eddie began to read again. He may think he's safe now and my comment didn't mean anything, but he is in for a rude awakening later tonight.

**But I hadn't been able to stop thinking about that incident, not only because it was chilling, but because it really did remind me of what had just happened in her room.**

**We had been out in the woods near campus one evening, having skipped out on our last class. **

"Did you ever do any work," my mother says throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"Yeah," I reply. "Whenever I happened to be dropping back into school," I say jokingly referencing to the many times I dropped in and out of school.

Shaking her head my mother replies, "That is not at all funny and you know it."

**I'd traded a pair of cute, rhinestone-studded sandals to Abby Badica for a bottle of peach schnapps—desperate, yes, but you did what you had to in Montana —which she'd somehow gotten hold of. **

"I wonder how _she _got it," Abe mutters.

"I have no idea. Your guess is better than mine," I say to him, which earns me a frown and glare.

**Lissa had shaken her head in disapproval when I suggested cutting class to go put the bottle out of its misery, but she'd come along anyway. Like always.**

"I really wished you had put you foot down instead of going along with Rose's crazy idea," my mother says.

"Oh my gosh," Viktoria says. "I can't believe our Queen used to skip classes to go drinking," she says jokingly.

"Well, it sounds worse than it really was when you put it that way," Lissa says a little amused by Viktoria's comment.

"I'm all for that," Adrian says.

"I bet you are," Christian replies.

"Anytime you want to skip a royal meeting and go have a drink I'm your guy," he says ignoring Christian's comment.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Adrian," Lissa says unsure whether to take Adrian seriously or be amused. "Eddie you can continue reading now."

**We found an old log to sit on near a scummy green marsh. A half-moon cast a tiny sliver of light on us, but it was more than enough for vampires and half-vampires to see by. Passing the bottle back and forth, I grilled her on Aaron. She'd fessed up that the two of them had had sex the weekend before, and I felt a surge of jealousy that she'd been the one to have sex first.**

Christian scowled at the comment about Lissa and Aaron having sex. I'm sure hearing about the person you love having sex with someone else has to be pretty though. I'd probably die if I had to sit here and listen to someone talk about having sex with Dimitri.

"I can't get past the fact that Rose was still a virgin," Alberta says, much to my displeasure.

"It's not that hard to believe," I argue just before Eddie began reading.

**"So what was it like?"**

"Were you asking because you wanted to know if it had been good or—" Adrian began to say, but he stopped midsentence once he caught Karolina's eyes.

**She shrugged and took another drink. "I don't know. It wasn't anything."**

That made Christian smile, and I can tell Adrian wants to comment but he's too afraid of pissing Karolina off.

**"What do you mean it wasn't anything? Didn't the earth move or the planets align or something?"**

Eddie stopped reading and turned to me. "You do know that that kind of thing doesn't happen right?"

"Yes, I know that you idiot," I retort and cross my arms over my chest.

"I guess Dimitri's a better teacher than I thought," Eddie says and continues reading as my jaw drops nearly to the ground. Dimitri, however, isn't as affected by the comment. Wait. Is he? I can't believe what I'm seeing. He's trying to hide a smile. I can't believe he thinks that comment was funny.

**"No," she said, smothering a laugh. "Of course not."**

**I didn't really get why that should be funny, but I could tell she didn't want to talk about it. This was around the time the bond had begun forming, and her emotions were starting to creep into me now and then. I held up the bottle and glared at it.**

"What the hell did the bottle do to you?" Adrian asks.

I just roll my eyes at him and wait for Eddie to continue reading.

**"I don't think this stuff is working."**

"Good," my mother says.

"Servers you right," Abe says.

**"That's because there's barely any alcohol in—"**

**The sound of something moving in the brush came from nearby. I immediately shot up, putting my body between her and the noise.**

Eddie stops reading again and says nothing.

"What the hell are you doing," Abe asks outraged.

"Pausing for dramatic effect," Eddie says.

"Well, I would strongly advise you to un-pause," Abe warns dangerously.

**"It's some animal," she said when a minute went by in silence.**

**That didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. The school's wards kept out Strigoi, but wild animals often wandered into the outskirts of campus, posing their own threats. Bears. Cougars.**

"Looks to me like you two should have stayed in class," Karolina says.

"We weren't really in any danger," I say to her, thinking back to the moment when Ms. Karp found us.

**"Come on," I told her. "Let's head back."**

**We hadn't gone very far when I heard something moving again, and someone stepped out into our path.**

"Someone or something?" Sonya asks for clarification.

"Someone," I say motioning for Eddie to continue reading.

**"Ladies."**

**Ms. Karp.**

Mikhail stiffened at this no doubt remembering that he just got her back recently. I wonder why she's not here. I'll make a mental note to ask him later.

**We froze, and whatever quick reactions I'd shown back by the marsh disappeared as I delayed a few moments in hiding the bottle behind my back.**

"I bet you did," my mother says nonchalantly, and I choose to ignore her comment.

**A half-smile crossed her face, and she held out her hand.**

**Sheepishly, I gave the bottle to her, and she tucked it under her arm. She turned without another word, and we followed, knowing there would be consequences to deal with.**

"With Rose involved there are always consequences to deal with," Christian notes.

"And that is exactly why you should shut the hell up," I say to him irritated.

"For now," he replies and Eddie begins to read again.

**"You think no one notices when half a class is gone?" she asked after a little while.**

"Half a class? What was it national skip class day?" Adrian asks.

"Ha, ha very funny, Adrian," I say.

**"Half a class?"**

**"A few of you apparently chose today to skip. Must be the nice weather. Spring fever."**

Dimitri and my mother both shake their heads at this.

**Lissa and I trudged along. I'd never been comfortable around Ms. Karp since the time she'd healed my hands. Her weird, paranoid behavior had taken on a strange quality to me—a lot stranger than before. Scary, even. And lately I couldn't look at her without seeing those marks by her forehead. Her deep red hair usually covered them but not always. Sometimes there were new marks; sometimes the old ones faded to nothing.**

**A weird fluttering noise sounded to my right. We all stopped.**

"This has to be the part you didn't want to discuss because I don't see anything wrong with what's happened so far," Sydney says.

"I agree," Abe says.

**"One of your classmates, I imagine," murmured Ms. Karp, turning toward the sound.**

"Dun, dun, duuunnnn," Adrian says no doubt for dramatic effect.

**But when we reached the spot, we found a large black bird lying on the ground. Birds—and most animals—didn't do anything for me, but even I had to admire its sleek feathers and fierce beak. It could probably peck someone's eyes out in thirty seconds—if it weren't obviously dying. With a last, halfhearted shake, the bird finally went still.**

**"What is that? Is it a crow?" I asked.**

**"Too big," said Ms. Karp. "It's a raven."**

**"Is it dead?" asked Lissa.**

**I peered at it. "Yeah. Definitely dead. Don't touch it."**

"Why would you have to tell her that?" Mia asks. "No one wants to touch a dead bird."

"Lissa loves animals," is the only thing I can say in response.

**"Probably attacked by another bird," observed Ms. Karp. "They fight over territory and resources sometimes."**

**Lissa knelt down, compassion on her face. I wasn't surprised, since she'd always had a thing for animals. She'd lectured me for days after I'd instigated the infamous hamster-and-hermit-crab fight. I'd viewed the fight as a testing of worthy opponents. She'd seen it as animal cruelty.**

"I agree," Sydney says.

"Yeah, Rose, you can't go torturing animals just for the fun of it. They are living things too," Lissa says to me, and I just shrug my shoulders as Eddie begins to read.

**Transfixed, she reached toward the raven.**

Recognition flashes across Dimtiri's, Abe's, my mother's, Christian's, Adrian's, and Alberta's faces. Now they understand what we wanted to keep a secret and why.

**"Liss!" I exclaimed, horrified. "It's probably got a disease."**

"If it did she couldn't get it because the bird was dead. Or at least I think she couldn't get it," Adrian trails off.

**But her hand moved out like she hadn't even heard me. Ms. Karp stood there like a statue, her white face looking like a ghost's. Lissa's fingers stroked the raven's wings.**

Now Mikhail's face flashes with recognition and Sydney looks irritated. I'm sure she is not too happy to see everyone figuring out what's going on and she can't.

**"Liss," I repeated, starting to move toward her, to pull her back. Suddenly, a strange sensation flooded through my head, a sweetness that was beautiful and full of life. The feeling was so intense, it stopped me in my tracks.**

**Then the raven moved.**

"Oh my gosh, you healed it!" Sydney exclaims finally understanding what we had been hiding.

**Lissa gave a small scream and snatched her hand back. We both stared wide-eyed.**

**The raven flapped its wings, slowly trying to right itself and stand up. When it managed to do so, it turned toward us, fixing Lissa with a look that seemed too intelligent for a bird, its eyes held hers, and I couldn't read her reaction through the bond. At long last, the raven broke the gaze and lifted into the air, strong wings carrying it away.**

"That's when you first used your spirit abilities, right?" Viktoria asks.

"Not really. The first time I used them was when I brought Rose back from the dead," Lissa says. "But that was the first time I knowingly healed something. I mean I didn't do it on purpose, but it was the first time I noticed I had some kind of strange power."

"It's not that strange," Adrian says.

**Wind stirring the leaves was the only sound left.**

**"Oh my God," breathed Lissa. "What just happened?"**

**"Hell if I know," I said, hiding my stark terror.**

**Ms. Karp strode forward and grabbed Lissa's arm, forcefully turning her so that they faced each other. I was there in a flash, ready to take action if Crazy Karp tried anything, though even I had qualms about taking down a teacher.**

"At least you had some sense," Christian says.

"You'll have just as much as I do once I'm done with you," I threaten.

"I'm scared," Christian says, faking fear.

"Good, you should be," I say icily.

**"Nothing happened," said Ms. Karp in an urgent voice, her eyes wild-looking. "Do you hear me? Nothing. And you can't tell anyone—**_**anyone**_**—about what you saw. Both of you. Promise me. Promise me you won't ever talk about this again."**

"So that's where you two got that idea from. Sonya told you two not to tell," Mikhail says.

"That was good advice," Dimitri says.

**Lissa and I exchanged uneasy glances. "Okay" she croaked out.**

**Ms. Karp's grip relaxed a little. "And don't ever do it again. If you do, they'll find out. They'll try to find you." She turned to me. "You can't let her do it. Not ever again."**

"Who is they?" Sydney asks.

"I think she was speaking in general," I reply.

"Oh," she says.

**On the quad, outside my dorm, someone was saying my name.**

**"Hey, Rose? I've called you, like, a hundred times."**

**I forgot about Ms. Karp and the raven and glanced over at Mason, who had apparently started walking with me toward the dorm while I was off in la-la land.**

**"Sorry," I mumbled. "I'm out of it. Just…um, tired."**

"A little too much action last night?" Eddie says.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," I say.

"More like nothing Dimitri couldn't handle," Christian says getting his two cents in.

**"Too much excitement last night?"**

**I gave him a narrow-eyed look. "Nothing I couldn't handle."**

**"I guess," he laughed, though he didn't exactly sound amused. "Sounds like Jesse couldn't handle it."**

"He was obviously jealous," Adrian notes.

"Thanks, Adrian. I kind of figured that out on my own," I say.

"No problem. And your welcome," he says.

**"He did okay."**

"He didn't do that well," I mutter under my breath.

**"If you say so. But personally, I think you've got bad taste."**

"I definitely agree," Abe says darkly. I wonder what's going on in his mind right now. You know what. I take that back. I don't think I want to know all the corrupt things he's thinking about.

**I stopped walking. "And **_**I **_**don't think it's any of your business."**

"Can you say bitchy," Christian states.

"Can you say shut the hell up," I reply.

"Yeah, I can say it. Why?" Christian asks.

"She wants you to do it," Dimitri says shaking his head in disapproval.

"I will when you do," Christian retorts.

"Okay, let's start now," I say.

"Thank God," Eddie says and begins reading before Christian and I can reply to his comment.

**He looked away angrily. "You made it the whole class's business."**

**"Hey, I didn't do that on purpose."**

**"Would've happened anyway. Jesse's got a big mouth."**

"He really does," Mia says.

**"He wouldn't have told."**

**"Yeah," said Mason. "Because he's so cute and has such an important family."**

**"Stop being an idiot," I snapped. "And why do you even care? Jealous I'm not doing it with you?"**

"One, you are an idiot," Christian says, "and two, duh he was jealous you weren't doing it with him."

"I thought we agreed on the whole you not talking thing," I say angrily.

He just shrugs his shoulders and Eddie continues reading.

**His flush grew, going all the way to the roots of his red hair. "I just don't like hearing people talk shit about you, that's all. There are a lot of nasty jokes going around. They're calling you a slut."**

"So did Dimitri," Adrian says laughing.

"That…is not funny," I say through clenched teeth.

"Sure it is," he replies.

**"I don't care what they call me."**

**"Oh, yeah. You're really tough. You don't need anyone."**

**I stopped. "I don't. I'm one of the best novices in this fucking place. I don't need you acting all gallant and coming to my defense. Don't treat me like I'm some helpless girl."**

"You may not be helpless, but you are a girl," Dimitri says. "And I don't see what's so wrong with admitting you need saving sometimes," he adds.

"I don't need saving," I reply.

"Sometimes you do," he says.

"Yeah, from herself and her mouth," Christian says ruining our serious moment.

**I turned around and kept walking, but he caught up to me easily. The woes of being five-seven.**

**"Look…I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just worried about you."**

**I gave a harsh laugh.**

**"I'm serious. Wait…" he began. "I, uh, did something for you. Sort of. I went to the library last night and tried to look up St. Vladimir,"**

"At least someone around you other than Lissa and Dimitri could help you out in the reading department," Christian says.

"Shut up," I say to him again.

**I stopped again. "You did?"**

**"Yeah, but there wasn't much on Anna. All the books were kind of generic. Just talked about him healing people, bringing them back from the edge of death."**

**That last part hit a nerve.**

As I look around the room I see Abe contemplating things in his head. He is obviously trying to piece all the clues together to figure out what's going to happen.

**"Was…was there anything else?" I stammered.**

**He shook his head. "No. You probably need some primary sources, but we don't have any here."**

**"Primary what?"**

"Rose, how do you not know what a primary source is?" Lissa asks.

"I know what it is now," I say.

"Yeah, after Mason tells you what it is," Christian says.

I just roll my eyes at his comment.

**He scoffed, a smile breaking over his face. "Do you do anything but pass notes? We just talked about them the other day in Andrews' class. They're books from the actual time period you want to study. Secondary ones are written by people living today. You'll get better information if you find something written by the guy himself. Or someone who actually knew him."**

"Smart boy," Abe says.

**"Huh. Okay. What are you, like, a boy genius now?"**

"Yeah, unlike you," Christian says and I shoot him a glare.

**Mason gave me a light punch in the arm. "I pay attention, that's all. You're so oblivious. You miss all sorts of things." He smiled nervously. "And look…I really am sorry about what I said. I was just—"**

"Jealous," I mutter to myself low enough so no one else can hear.

**Jealous, I realized. I could see it in his eyes. How had I never noticed this before? He was crazy about me. I guess I really was oblivious.**

"That's a matter of opinion," Lissa says. "I don't think you were oblivious, I just think you weren't as observant as you could have been."

"Thanks," I say to her and smile.

**"It's all right, Mase. Forget about it." I smiled. "And thanks for looking that stuff up."**

**He smiled back, and I went inside, sad that I didn't feel the same way about him.**

"That's nothing you should feel sad about. You can't make yourself love someone," Dimitri says to me.

"That's true, and that was the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" Eddie asks.

"I'll read next," Yeva says, and Eddie hands her the book.

"Chapter eleven," she begins.

"Yeva, wait," I say. "I think we should all head to bed. It's been a long day. You can read when we get back in here tomorrow."

"That's fine," she says to me.

Good. Now let the torture begin.

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and like I stated before I'm so sorry for my lack of updating. I'll try my very best to update when I can, but that's not going to be very easy. Anyway, tell me what you all thought of the chapter. **

**And don't' forget to give me ideas about Rose's revenge and vote on Sydney and Adrian's relation ship.**

**R&R**

**Oh, and as always, I apologize for any mistakes you may have encountered while reading this chapter. **


	12. Part One of Plan for Revenge

**A/N:**

**This is the chapter where Rose will finally get her revenge, and dependant upon how you voted, Adrian and Sydney may or may not fix their relationship. Once this chapter has been posted the poll question will go back to who should read the lust charm chapter.**

**R&R. Hope you enjoy this chapter. **

*****This story was started before Last Sacrifice came out so it is not completely accurate although it does project some of the predictions I had for **_**Last Sacrifice**_**. Rose shouldn't still have the bond, Tasha should be locked up, Adrian shouldn't be talking to Rose, etc, but I don't want to change the story line right in the middle of the book, so if you guys vote for me to continue the series then I will make the appropriate changes beginning with **_**Frostbite**_**.*****

Right now Dimitri is in the shower and I am debating whether to leave now and not tell him where I'm going or wait for him to get out and make up some lie so he won't be suspicious and follow me.

"Rose, what are you up to this time," Dimitri says making me jump, which screams I just got caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing. At least I don't have to decide what I'm going to do. _Dimitri made the choice for me_ I think to myself bitterly.

"Why do I always have to be up to something?" I meant to sound innocent, but my voice came out defensive instead.

"Not always." He pauses for a few seconds. Then he adds, "but you are now."

He could tell I was about to say something so he beat me to the punch. "And don't say you're not up to something because I know you are. I can just tell. For starters you haven't even begun to get ready for bed; secondly, you were jumpy when I said something to you. Plus, you got defensive when I asked you what you were up to. Do you know what that tells me Rose?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway," I mutter bitterly.

Trying but failing to hide a smile he says, "It tells me you are up to something."

"No I'm not," I argue.

"Rose, you forget I'm a guardian who is adept at reading people and I'm especially attuned to you. You really should stop trying to lie to me because it never works. Oh, and before you say anything else you should think about this: if you had told me the truth you could have been out of this room doing whatever it is you want to do without any interference from me."

_I could have been gone if I had left while you were taking a shower_. Damn it. Why didn't I leave then? I could have—

"This can't be good. It looks like you just got an idea and that idea involves me. Now I don't think I want to know what you're up to. You can leave now," he says waving me towards the door.

"But Dimitri, I need your help. Please," I say, taking a step closer to him trying to persuade him, which actually backfires because I just noticed what I was too preoccupied to notice earlier. Dimitri isn't wearing anything.

Well, except for a towel, but he might as well be wearing nothing because his almost naked body is doing the same thing to me that his naked body would be doing—making me want him.

Completely caught off guard I stop in my tracks, which gives Dimitri the opportunity to pull me into him—which he takes. Pulling me onto his lap he sits us on the edge of the bed and asks me again what I'm up to, but this time I know I can't lie to him. With him this close, with his lips and his body this close to me I can't resist giving in to him, and he knows it and he's using that to his advantage. Damn it, I can't believe this. He's completely pulling a Rose Hathaway on me and I'm falling for it.

Unable to resist, I spill everything, and to my surprise Dimitri begins laughing. "I should have known."

Almost twenty minutes later I'm trying to figure out a plan as I walk over to Abe's room. I knew revenge was going to be sweet but I didn't know it would be this hard. Coming up with a way to actually get back at Christian and Eddie is a lot harder than just threatening them. Hopefully my old man can come up with some brilliant retaliation plan. I do like to think of him as an evil genius—minus the genius part because I'm not entirely sure how intelligent Abe is. He is however very cunning. He had to be in order to get Janine Hathaway into bed and completely disregard the fact that he's some type of mobster.

Finally reaching Abe's door, I hesitate a few seconds before raising my fist to knock. Just as my fist is about to make contact with the door it flies open revealing non other than my mother.

And she's giggling. I didn't even know she could do that.

"Ah, hello, Rosemarie," a voice calls from behind her.

Quickly closing my mouth I didn't know was hanging open I step through the doorway taking Abe's greeting as an invitation. Stepping into the lit room enables me to really take in my surroundings. Abe's room looks like a room you would find in a royal palace. I guess when you are as good of a mobster as he is you can have whatever you want and live in lush rooms anywhere you go. I'm also able to take in Abe himself and good god does he look like Dimitri. Not in the hot Russian god sort of way, but the half naked sort of way. And my mother is in here. I really don't want to know what they were doing.

"Rose, I was just here discussing something with Abe. If you need to speak with him then I can leave. I was on my way out anyway," my mother says.

"Uh, yeah, that would be great," I say shakily still unnerved by what I think my parents may have been doing. From the looks of it they were doing a lot more than discussing something. I understand that they had to do certain things in order to bring me into the world, but I don't want to witness those things now that I'm here.

"Well, I guess I better go put on some clothes," Abe says cheerily. "I'll see you later, Janine," he adds suggestively.

And I swear I saw her giggle again before turning and walking out the door. "Oh good god old man! Do you have no couth? I'm standing right here, I don't want to hear that!"

"Would you rather I stay like this for our little talk then." He smirks at me innocently.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about, but that's beside the point. Go put on some clothes so we can _discuss_," I say using my mother's earlier term, "what I came to ask for your help with."

He raises an eyebrow at the him helping me part of my statement. "This should be good. If you need my help we are undoubtedly going to wreck havoc on someone tonight. And it has to be really big if you need my help because sadly there isn't too much that I can do that you can't." Despite his words he didn't sound too sad. He actually sounded proud and intrigued. Honestly I think Abe gets off on destroying people's lives.

I just roll my eyes at that because honestly it should have been obvious that I wanted something when I showed up at his room door. It's not like I wanted to spend any fatherly daughter time with him. "Just go get dressed old man," I say using my nickname for him.

Shaking his head he gestures around the room. "Make yourself comfortable until I return." And then he turns walks down the hall and enters a room just as lavish as the one I'm currently standing in.

And God help me.

Just before he closes his bedroom door I notice the disheveled bed and a bra sprawled across the floor. And I'm hoping Abe is the womanizer I proclaim him to be and that that isn't my mother's bra on his bedroom floor.

Trying my best to erase from my mind what I just saw I take a seat on the plush leather couch pushed up against the wall and attempt—unsuccessfully might I add—to come up with a plan for revenge.

After about five minutes of drawing blanks I shift my focus. Instead of thinking about what I can do I think about what I threatened to do to Christian and Eddie, but considering the fact that I don't want them dead discredits most of the threats I made. Damn it.

"So how may I be of service to my darling daughter tonight?" Abe asks, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

"Damn it, old man. Don't you make any noise? You scared me nearly half to death," I exclaim, breathing raggedly. Honestly I had no idea he was in the room. He just snuck up on me.

He frowns at me. "You're a guardian. You should always be aware of your surroundings."

Actually he had a point. I am a guardian. I should have heard him come up. But if he could sneak up on me he could most certainly sneak up on Eddie, and maybe Christian. Although I'm not too sure about the latter because Christian is a Moroi, and all Moroi have exceptional hearing. "You were right before when you said I needed your help."

"No big surprise there," he says nonchalantly, and I'm not sure whether he's referring to me needing his help or him being right as no big surprise. Knowing Abe it was probably a mixture of both.

Looking at me in that studious way of his I can see his brain ticking. "Let me guess. This has something to do with Lord Ozera and Guardian Castile." I hide my surprise at him guessing my thoughts with haughtiness by placing my hands on my hips and giving him a hard stare. "Ah, so I'm right once again," he says cheerily.

Trying but failing miserably to suppress an eye roll I say, "So, are you going to help me or not?"

He gives me yet another hard stare before he finally cracks and says, "Fine, but what's in it for me."

I throw my hands up in exasperation, but really I should have been expecting that. Abe doesn't do anything without receiving something in return, not even for his own flesh and blood. "Why does there have to be something in it for you? I'm your daughter. You should help me just because." I can see that that form of logic didn't faze him so I go for a more direct approach. "Just consider it payment for all the time you missed when I was growing up." That worked, but it didn't elicit my desired effect. Instead of cracking and agreeing to help me to atone for his absence in my life—although I didn't miss him or need him in it—he opens his mouth to argue with me.

I cut him off by holding up my hand. "I know my mother thought it would be best if you weren't in my life but that still doesn't suffice as an excuse. It's like sitting in the getaway car while your friend is stealing something from a store, going to court, and then arguing with the judge about how it wasn't your fault. You may not have directly been involved with the discussion to rob the store, or stay out of my life, but you still played a part; therefore you deserve some of the blame."

I know I had completely used Rose logic to get my way, but if it works the better for me because I know being in debt to Zemey means there will be hell to pay later. Sydney is a prime example.

I take the slumping of Abe's shoulders as him giving in, and he confirms this a few seconds later. "Fine, I'll help. No strings attached."

"Great," I say with a devious smile. "Now to think of a revenge plan."

Abe's eyebrow shoots up at this, and he frowns at me. "You came to me for help and you don't even have a plan." He said that more as a statement of fact rather than a question. My only response was a shrug of my shoulders as I began to dig through the bag I brought with me. "Do you at least have some ideas?" he asks.

"Not really," I reply while continuing to dig through my bag. "I was hoping you could help me come up with an idea because all the ones I have involve death." I said that last statement as if I was talking about the whether and not death. When you're a guardian death becomes normal to you because you see so much of it and you cause your fare share of it. That scares me a little. I know that Strigoi are evil and don't deserve to live, but that doesn't make what I do any less horrific. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we shouldn't kill Strigoi because if it comes to their life or Lissa's I'm definitely taking the life of the Strigoi. I'm just saying that causing so much death takes its toll on the mind and it causes you to struggle with the concept of good and evil. Just like Dimitri, I have no qualms about taking the life of a Strigoi because they are unnatural, but it still bothers me.

"How about dying all of their white clothes pink and bleaching the rest of them," he suggests.

I stop digging through my bag and look at him. "That is trivial, old man. Think grandiose. If I wanted to destroy clothing I wouldn't have come to you for help. I could do that on my own."

"Fine," he says, and I commence my digging again. "What the hell are you looking for," he exclaims clearly irritated that I'm paying my bag more attention than him.

"My… ah ha," I say pulling out my cell phone. Abe gives me an incredulous look, and I just shrug my shoulders. "What?" I ask him.

"That's exactly what I should be asking you," he replies as I begin to text someone on my phone. Narrowing his eyes at me, he continues with his previous path of speech. "How about we kidnap them and take them to a closet and tie them up. Then we can drop water on their faces to make them feel as though they are drowning," he suggests a little too enthusiastically.

Putting my phone away I turn to him and give him an incredulous look. "I already told you I don't want to kill them." Abe opens his mouth to no doubt protest that we wouldn't be killing them just torturing them, but that's the problem. "I don't want to torture them either," I exclaim, "plus I'm sure it's against the law." Abe gives me a look that says he's above the law, and really I should have guessed he would use that line of thinking. He does make his living by breaking the law. What's a little torture here and there?

Just as Abe is about to verbalize his argument there's a knock at his door. He gives me a look as if to tell me to open the door, but I just shake my head. "It's your room you answer the door."

He turns and walks to the door and looks through the peep hole. Then he turns back to me and gives me a puzzling look, but opens the door nonetheless. A few seconds later he walks back to the room I'm sitting in with Viktoria right behind him.

"Nice of you to finally join us," I say to her.

"Nice of you to pull me out of bed," she replies, earning a smile from both me and Abe. Then realization strikes Abe, "That's who you were texting."

"Yep, and she already knows what she's here for," I say.

"Okay, but how is she going to be of help?" he asks.

"Do you remember when Dimitri said she was just like me?" Abe nods his head as an answer. "I figured it couldn't hurt to have another me carrying out my revenge plan."

Abe gives me a look, but I can't read it. I don't know whether he is on board with us having Viktoria's help or not, but if he isn't he's just going to have to deal with it. "Fine," Abe says. "She can help."

Under my breath I murmur, "there was never any question as to whether she would help or not."

Abe gives me a hard look, but continues with his statement. "Do you have any ideas?" That was directed towards Viktoria because we had already established I was of no use in that department.

"Actually I do," she says. "I came up with it on my way over here."

As she began to divulge the details I realized that her plan was brilliant. It was way better than anything Abe or I could have come up with. When she finished telling us about her plan, there was nothing left to do but put it in action.

Before we left the room I took my cell phone out again. Abe gave me a questioning look when I put it back in my bag. "What?" I ask. "I was just turning it off. We wouldn't want it going off while we are conducting Operation RAV would we." While Viktoria was telling us about the plan I had come up with a cool name for it: Operation RAV. It stands for Rose, Abe, and Viktoria. I know it isn't the world's best operation name, but it is definitely better than continuously calling it my plan for revenge. Plus, Operation RAV has a ring to it and it makes my plan for revenge sound…I don't know…official.

Abe stares at me a few seconds longer before turning on his heels and heading for the door. "We should follow him before he decides to go forth with the plan without us," Viktoria says, walking by me. "And I know you wouldn't be too fond of that, so let's go."

As I follow Viktoria out of the room I can't help but feel excited. I know I shouldn't be overly happy about causing Eddie and Christian a world of hurt, but honestly, they deserve it. And by the looks of it I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Abe has a cheery smirk on his face and he's not even trying to hide it. I'm not sure whether he really believes Eddie and Christian need to be paid back for what they did to me or if he is just thrilled about extracting revenge. Knowing Abe it's probably the latter. Viktoria also looks happy about what we are going to do, but if I was her I would be happy too. After the kickass plan she created for Operation RAV she should be proud. But I can't help the feeling that she's going along with this plan to make up for what happened between us in Russia.

We haven't discussed it since she's been here. We just fell back into the rolls we had in each other's lives before I dragged her out of that blood whore den. At the time she wasn't happy with me about that, and she even accused me of coming onto the pig who she considered her boyfriend—the same pig who knocked up her sister Sonya, although Viktoria didn't know that at the time. That was completely absurd, especially since at the time I was morning the loss of Dimitri. Well, technically I wasn't morning his loss because I was contemplating ways to kill him if I ever found him, but still the point is there was no way in hell I would have ever come onto that creep after being with Dimitri. No one could compare to him, not even Adrian, although I did give him a shot after Dimitri was turned.

After time had passed and Viktoria was enabled to look back on the situation I'm sure she realized that too. I'm sure she realized that I was only trying to protect her, which is why I haven't given her grief about getting mad at me when I had her drug out of that horrible place. Although, I think she still feels guilty about what happened, and I'm sure she's disappointed in herself for even being involved with that guy in the first place. I'm also sure she's thankful I was there to keep her from making the biggest mistake of her life. I know I would be grateful. Grateful enough to help me do anything I ever needed help with. That's why I believe Viktoria is helping. Unlike my father she doesn't have an ulterior motive. She just wants to repay me for stopping her from making a choice she would have regretted for the rest of her life.

As if she could read my mind, Viktoria shoots me a smile as we continue our trek to begin Operation RAV.

Fifteen minutes later we are standing around the corner from where Lissa and Christian are staying, and by 'we' I mean Viktoria and me. Abe parted from us a while back so he could go collect what we need to make this operation a success.

Turing to Viktoria I ask, "How did you come up with this awesome plan?"

She replies to my question modestly. "It's not that great, but I knew you wouldn't want anything too drastic, but I also knew you would want them to suffer, so what I came up with seemed like the perfect combination of both.

Before I could ask her another question and scoff at her modesty Abe rounded the corner and dropped the materials he gathered into my bag. As he did so I almost tumbled to the ground. "Do these things weigh like one hundred pounds a piece or what?"

He just shrugs his shoulders and gives us the okay sign to begin the operation, but before we head off he stops us. "The nearest vent out of sight of their room is one hall over," he says pointing to our right. "Once you two are in go left." With that he turns and walks off to station himself at our next post—outside Eddie's room.

Viktoria and I headed off too in complete silence. We half walked half ran over to the next hall as quietly as we could. As we did I noticed how nice this portion of court is. There are chandeliers lighting this hall and matching torches lining the walls. The carpet is a plush blood red color, and soft. It's perfect for what we are doing because it muffles our footsteps.

We passed four rooms before we were standing under the vent Abe informed us about. I studied it for a few seconds before handing Viktoria my bag. She held it out so I could peer inside and I noticed the stepping stool the old man put in my bag. It wasn't very large or tall for that matter, but it was heavy.

Before I removed it from my bag I took in my surroundings. There were five high tech cameras lining the hallway, but as I looked at them closely I noticed the red light that signified they were on wasn't flashing. That was more than a little odd. If I didn't know any better I would say there was a breech in security or someone wasn't doing his or her job.

My suspicions were confirmed a few seconds latter as Viktoria handed me a piece of paper. It read: _They've been taken care of_.

Instantly I knew it was Abe who had written the note, and I knew it was referring to the cameras. He must have placed the note in my bag and I overlooked it.

Now that I was sure there were no prying eyes I removed the stepping stool from my bag and set it up. I stepped onto it and I was just barley able to reach the bolts that kept the vent shut. I ran my index finger across all four of the bolts and found that there was no grove to place a screwdriver into. I didn't panic at this new revelation because I could just use a wrench. It would take more force and time, but I could remove the four bolts.

I turned my head to face Viktoria and formed my fingers into a 'w'. This was to let her know what I needed without actually having to use words. It was Abe's idea. He said that the less noise we made—talking included—the better chance we had of not being caught. We took his word for it seeing as this is his expertise.

Viktoria threw me the wrench and I caught it effortlessly and began to work. It took me about a minute to undo the first bolt and I threw it to Viktoria for her to hold. I then proceeded to undo the remaining three. When the last one fell into my waiting hand I threw it and the wrench to Viktoria. She caught both and placed the wrench back in my bag.

As she did this I grabbed the vent and pushed it into the ventilation system. Then I turned to face the wall and placed my hands on either side of the opening to the ventilation system made by the absence of the vent. Then I lifted myself up some and placed my shoes on the wall. Thank God they didn't leave a mark. Then I swung the lower half of my body backwards and my feet and legs landed inside the ventilation system. Luckily for me neither the air nor heat was on.

Once I was positioned comfortably—or as comfortably as you can be in a ventilation system—I stuck my hands out for Viktoria to hand me my bag. She did so and I placed it by my side. When I reached back out my hands griped hers and I began to pull her up. Once she was on the opposite side of the ventilation system as I was I stuck my hands and head out. "Hold my feet," I whispered to her, and she complied and began to lower me out of the vent.

My hands made contact with the stepping stool and I wrapped my fingers around it so I could pull it up as Viktoria pulled me back into the ventilation system.

"Diner was great, honey. We should go out more often," I hear a feminine voice say.

This made Viktoria pull faster and harder because I was still halfway out of the ventilation system, and the couple would be turning down the hall in a matter of seconds.

"How about we go out tomorrow night," said the male voice, and he sounded extremely close, and he was. I could see his shoes. Then I could see his dark black slacks. Next was his royal blue dress shirt. Then I barley saw his crystalline blue eyes before I saw nothing at all as Viktoria gave one last strong tug.

I and the stepping stool were both in the ventilation system, but I think the guy noticed something was amiss. I quickly handed the stepping stool to Viktoria and placed the vent where it was supposed to be. I didn't have time to put the bolts back in place, so I had to hold the vent.

A few seconds after I placed the vent where it should have been the guy we heard talking stepped under the vent and tried to peer into it. "Honey, I swear I saw something hanging from this vent a moment ago," said the guy to his wife. Or I figured she was his wife since they both had matching rings on their left ring fingers.

She stepped beside him and peered into the vent too with eyes matching her husbands. "Are your sure?" she asks her husband, shooting him a look that says she thinks he's crazy. "I don't see anything up there. I didn't see anything as we rounded the corner either."

"Maybe your right." He frowned at his statement.

"I know I'm right," says the woman. "You must have had too much to drink tonight. Let's get back to our room." He doesn't look too happy about his wife saying he had too much to drink, but he follows her down the hall nonetheless.

She takes the keys from his hand and unlocks the door. She steps through and he does the same, but not before sparing another glance towards the vent Viktoria and I are occupying.

When we hear the door to the couple's room close Viktoria and I both let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," she says as she begins to put the stepping stool in my bag.

"Tell me about it," I reply, and hold my hand out for the four bolts and wrench.

She hands the items to me and I seal us in thankful no one else happened to wander by.

"He said go left," says Viktoria, and she pulls me in her direction and we begin to crawl through the dark ventilation system in search of an opening to Lissa and Christian's room.

Fifteen grueling minutes of crawling through a dark air shaft later Viktoria and I are situated above a vent that leads to Lissa and Christian's bedroom, which is perfect and exactly where we want to be.

There is a little light coming through the slits in the vent from Lissa and Christian's room, which enables me to just barley make out Viktoria mouth _what now_.

Speaking as quietly as I can I say, "we wait."

"What for?" she whispers back.

"Hopefully that," I reply as someone knocks on Lissa and Christian's door. This is my part of the plan. We knew Lissa and Christian would be together, so I thought of a way to distract her while keeping her away from Christian. Hopefully this is my idea kicking into action because honestly I'm tired of being cooped up in this ventilation system. It is by no means comfortable.

From the slits in the vent and the meager light coming through I was able to see Lissa and Christian get out of their bed and head towards the door.

"Who the hell is paying us a visit this late," Christian all but yells as I shake my head and from the shifting I see in my peripheral vision I can tell Viktoria is doing the same.

"Calm down, Christian. It's not that late," Lissa reprimands and I faintly hear the door open.

"Good evening Queen Dragomir, Lord Ozera. I'm sorry to bother you all at such a late hour but this is of the upmost importance."

"You know it's not necessary to call me Queen Dragomir. It's Lissa to you, and we weren't asleep you aren't bothering us. Please come in." That of course was Lissa and her hospitality. Christian and his lack thereof groaned at Lissa saying they weren't being bothered. If it was up to him he would have kicked their visitor out on his or her ass. However, I'm pretty sure he isn't capable of doing that seeing as he would be getting his ass kicked, not kicking their visitor out on his or her ass.

"Lissa, again I apologize for dropping by unexpectedly and so late, but like I said it is important."

"Is it so important it can't wait until morning?" Christian asks stifling a yawn.

"No it can't wait, but it is nothing you need to concern yourself with, so if you wish to go back to bed you may do so. I will only need Lissa's assistance with this particular task."

"Great," Christian says and heads back to his and Lissa's room without having the dignity or decency to see what their late night visitor needs help with. He flops down on the bed and yanks the covers over his head.

"Looks like someone's grumpy," Viktoria whispers so softly I barley heard her.

Back in the sitting room Lissa and her visitor are speaking in hushed tones, but I can make out bits and pieces of the conversation. I heard my name mentioned once or twice and I knew Operation RAV was really about to get going.

**A/N:**

**Hey guys, I know I haven't updated in a while, but please don't kill me. I've been very busy with school. I have actually put a lot of work into this chapter, and it is still nowhere close to being completed. However, with that being said I thought that what has been written so far could stand alone and act as its own chapter, so I'm stopping it here. For starters because you guys are great and you deserve a new chapter, and secondly because I am so excited about what I have already written. Plus, I figured by giving you guys this chapter the reviews I get would definitely motivate me to crank out more chapters.**

**I hope you enjoy reading this portion of Operation RAV as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

_**Here's some great news: **__**I'm out of school for summer vacation now, so updates will definitely come a lot more frequently. I'm so happy to be out of school. Junior year is over and done with and I am on my way to becoming a big bad senior. Then I'll finally be heading off to college. That should be fun. Hopefully, I'll have a car for my senior year of high school, so I can go to and from school of my own accord. Keep your fingers crossed!**_____

**R &R! **

**As always I apologize for any mistakes you may have come across while reading this story. **

**If you have any questions as to how I plan to break up the chapters for Operation RAV please ask me, or if you don't understand something in this chapter please ask questions about that too. **

**Oh, does anyone know who the visitor is? Do any of you want to take a guess at what will happen to Christian and Eddie?**


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